Come Upstairs |
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Come Upstairs Stardust Them Jesse James In Pain The Three Of Us In The Dark Take Me As I Am The Desert |
To promote Come Upstairs, Carly appeared on the TV show Omnibus, where three painters (including Andy Warhol) took on the task of capturing Carly's image.
Filmed in 1995 at Grand Cental Station Info
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
Sitting in a car here
After a party where we've seen
Everyone we've known for years
Well I've known you for years
Oh but now it's all changed
And all of my feelings
Have been rearranged
Come upstairs
We'll be all alone
Come upstairs
No one will know
Come upstairs
We can take off the phone
Come upstairs
You can take off my clothes
Say that it feels good
Maybe too good
You say that it feels like a dream
You want to knock on some wood
Well I'll give you some wood
And I'll give you some fire
I'll give you myself
And I will show you my desire
Come upstairs
We'll have a few laughs
Come upstairs
We'll take a bath
Come upstairs
It's only one flight
Come upstairs
You can stay overnight
I'll give you some wood
Yeah, I'll give you some fire
I'll give you myself
And I will show you my desire
Steve Gadd: Drums
Pete Hewlett: Electric Guitar
Ken Landrum: Phrophet 5
Tony Levin: Bass
Mike Mainier: Acoustic piano, Oberheim
Sid McGinnis: Lead Guitar
Billy Mernit: Electric piano
Ed Walsh: OBX, Oberheim programming
Carly Simon: Background vocals
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co. ASCAP
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
Golden rock'n'roll man
Breaking all of the records and rules
Sold out in an hour
The stage is your own bedroom
I have your poster close to my bed
Earphones glued to my head
But I'd rather have you in my arms instead
And I'd be better than I was before
If only I had you
If only I had
If only I had
If only I had your
Stardust
Your glamour is golden
Stardust
I'd feel so important
Stardust
If only I knew you
Stardust
I want to be near you
Stardust
Then I got to meet you
And your gold glitter fell all over me
Then I shook your hand
Took some of your luster
I told my friends that you were just a man
Real nice, not tough
None of that phony star stuff
And I'm better than I was before
Because I have you
Because I have
Because I have
Because I have your
Stardust
Your glamour is golden
Stardust
I feel so important
Stardust
Now that I'm holding you
Stardust
Now that I know you
Stardust
Pete Hewlett: Electric guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Mike Mainieri: Phrophet 5, OBX
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Lead guitar and solo
Ed Walsh: Oberheim 8 voice, programming
Background vocals: Carly Simon and James Taylor
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co.
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
What shall we do about them
When they move into your neighborhood
They take over but good
They want you all body and soul
Then it's just your body
Then they go
What shall we do about them
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
One of them asked me to dine
Then he ate me all up
Got full and then he blew me up
I got big and round and lovable
He saw I was immovable
He got bored, went to war
I got one baby, he's giving me more
Once I swore I'd never give myself up
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
I know that them we are not
I have loved them a lot
And I have loved a lot of them
You could say that I'm experienced
Enough to know that they are aliens
Do you keep them away, beg them to stay
Say it's O.K., do it their way
I used to swear I'd never give myself up
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
What shall we do about them
What do they want
Intro: Larry Fast and Mike Mainieri, synthesizers
Pete Hewlett: Electric guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Mike Mainieri: Yamaha CP3O, synthesizers
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Lead guitar
Background vocals:
US—Carly Simon, Laraine Newman, Mariah Aguiar, Christine Martin
THEM—Alex Taylor, Hugh Taylor, James Taylor, Sid McGinnis, Pete Hewlett, Mike Mainieri
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co.
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
Oh mother, say a prayer for me
Jesse's back in town, it won't be easy
Don't let him near me
Don't let him touch me
Don't let him please me
Jesse, I won't cut fresh flowers for you
Jesse, I won't make the wine cold for you
Jesse, I won't change the sheets for you
I won't put on cologne
I won't sit by the phone for you
Annie, keep reminding me
That he cut out my heart like a paper doll
Sally, tell me once again
How he set me up just to see me fall
Jesse, I won't cut fresh flowers for you
Jesse, I won't make the wine cold for you
Jesse, I won't change the sheets for you
I won't put on cologne
I won't sit by the phone for you
Jesse, quick come here
I won't tell a soul
Not even myself
Jesse, that you've come back to me
My friends will all say "She's gone again"
But how can anyone know what you are to me
That I'm in heaven again because you've come back to me
Oh Jesse
Jesse, I'll always cut fresh flowers for you
Jesse, I'll always make the wine cold for you
Jesse, I can easily change my mind about you
And put on cologne
And sit by the phone for you
Jesse, let's open the wine
And drink to the heart
Which has a will of it's own
My friends, let's comfort them
They're feeling bad
They think I've sunk so low
Jesse, I'll always cut fresh flowers for you
Jesse, I'll always make the wine cold for you
Jesse, I will change the sheets for you
Put on cologne
And I will wait by the phone for you
Oh Jesse
Don Grolnick: Acoustic piano
Pete Hewlett: Acoustic guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Electric slide guitar
Carly Simon: Acoustic guitar
Background vocals:
Lalas: Sarah Maria Taylor
Intro: Alex Taylor, Hugh Taylor,
James Taylor, Carly Simon
Chorus: Carly Simon, Pete Hewlett, Sid McGinnis, Gail Boggs
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co.
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
James
Your voice is like the water
When I lift this shell to my ear
I can hear you pouring out your heart to me
James
The beauty of your voice
Lifts us from sadness
James
Let us become like water together
Sing to me
Sit on the edge of my bed as when we
First spent nights together
Your body wrapped around your guitar
Let the music speak for your heart
Let them combine like water and sand
Let them meet the air like drops of rain
And bring us together
Once again
Jerry Grossman: Cello
Tony Levin: Electric fretless bass
Mike Mainieri: Acoustic piano, Yamaha CP30
Rick Marotta: Drums
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co.
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Don Grolnick & Mike Mainieri
This gray sky
Is good for cryin'
These November gray woods
Open to the fields
I came out here
In the cold
For my poor heart
Has turned to frost
I don't understand
What you just told me
What is all this about
About just being friends
It's a lousy lie
And a far cry
From what goes on
Between you and me
Pain, in pain
I'm in pain
You held me close to you
I didn't tell you what to do
We were burnin', burnin'
Burnin', burnin'
You made love to me
We were cryin', we were flyin'
We were dyin' in these fields
We'd come out here in the soft nights
I was sunburned under you
Pain, in pain
I'm in pain
So you want me to say
Do you want me to say, you want me to say
Say that I don't love you
Do you want me to smile, try, lie
And look away
How far away all the stars seem
And that gypsy moon
Cries, "You're a fool"
Don Grolnick: Acoustic piano
Pete Hewlett: Electric guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Lead Guitar
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co. ASCAP/ Carmine Street BMI
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
The three of us in the dark
Where do I resist
One has to go
One is just a guest
One is all a fire
And one is just a spark
But here I am with the two of you
The three of us in the dark
I didn't hear you walk in the door
You'd called to me years ago
I had heard
Your voice before
One is all a fire
One is all a spark
But here I am with the two of you
The three of us in the dark
The eerie sound of one lone fiddle
The wind is finding the tune
And you lying here in the middle
As innocent as the moon
Entangled in embraces that God will never see
And you will never know about
Do you know me
Who am I talking about
It all gets so confused
And what would I do
If I had to choose
One is all a fire
One is all a spark
And here I am with the two of you
The three of us in the dark
Tony Levin: Bass
Mike Mainieri: Acoustic piano
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Electric guitars
Background vocals: Carly Simon
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co. ASCAP
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon, Mike Mainieri & Sid McGinnis
You imagine when you see her
That she's nothing less that perfect
She has no aspirations
Beyond driving in her car
The car she looks so good in
Will she ever look that good again
You'll never have to know
Because she's gone
She passes in the left lane
And you're turned on by the chase
Her hair flies in the wind
As your mind begins to race
Well, the grass is always greener
But I wish you could have seen her
Drunk and lying with the gutter in her face
Take me as I am
Take me as I am
For the woman that I am
Take me as I am
You think she knows the bible
And can swim the English Channel
Writes novels in her spare time
In a cabin in the woods
You wish I'd gone to college
And you wish I'd let my hair grow
You wish I didn't have so many moods
Take me as I am
Take me as I am
For the woman that I am
Take me as I am
Take me as I am
Once you said you were in love with me
And maybe you still are
But the passion you once showed me
Now is lost among the stars
And you fancy some new fancy girl
Who'll come and change your life around
But she just turned the corner in her car
While for some other dreamin' driver
I am that romantic stranger
Lookin' better than I am
More mysterious by far
Speeding through his dreams
While I'm drivin' in my car
Take me as I am
Take me as I am
For the woman that I am
Take me as I am
Take me as I am
Pete Hewlett: Acoustic guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Mke Mainieri: Acoustic piano, synthesizers
Rick Marotta: Drums
Sid McGinnis: Electric guitars
Ed Walsh: Oberheim programming
Background vocals: Carly Simon
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co. ASCAP / Mohisse Music BMI
Lyrics by: Carly Simon
Music by: Carly Simon & Mike Mainieri
I was in the desert
Amazed by all that sand
I as in a sea of white
Swimming through the land
Nobody shocked me
Nobody locked me up
Nobody took my time
Nobody shook me up
All that happened was the white light
The endless sand in the moonlight
I was in the desert
In the opalescent noon
Watching the horizon
And waiting for the moon
Nobody talked to me
Nobody looked me up
Nobody walked up to me
Nobody shook me up
All that happened was the white light
The endless sand in the moonlight
I was in the desert
Free to live or die
Looking in the mirror
And seeing just the sky
Nobody got to me
Nobody said what to me
Nobody shoved me
Nobody loved me
All that happened was the white night
The endless sand and the moonlight
Tony Levin—electric fretless bass
Mike Mainieri—acoustic piano, synthesizers, marimba
Rick Marotta—drums
Sid McGinnis—electric, acoustic and 12-string guitars
Ed Walsh—Oberheim programming
Background vocals—Carly Simon
© 1980 Quackenbush Publ. / Redeye Music Publ. Co.
Come Upstairs album LP cover
Photo: Mick Rock
Come Upstairs album LP back
Photo: Mick Rock
Come Upstairs album LP sleeve
Come Upstairs photo session outtake
Photo: Mick Rock
Come Upstairs photo session outtake
Photo: Mick Rock
Come Upstairs photo session outtake
Photo: Mick Rock
the staff at the Power Station, to Bob Ludwig, to Sid McGinnis for his arranging ideas and to Jacques Brel for inspiration.
Recorded and mixed by Scott Litt at Power Station Studios, NYC
Assistant engineers—James Farber, Jeff Hendrickson, Ray Willhard, Lucie Laurie
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk, NYC
Production Coordinator, Christine Martin
James Taylor appears courtesy of Columbia records
Larry Fast appears courtesy of Passport Records
Photographs by: Mick Rock
Design concept by: Bill Gerber
Hand lettering by: Susan Turner
Art Direction by: Peter Whorf
Management by: Arlyne Rothberg
People magazine cover - October 6, 1980
No Nukers Carly Simon and James Taylor have a new cause: Stopping Fission at Home
Written by: Carl Arrington
Cover photo: Ken Regan
Carly Simon sings about Jesse but talks compellingly about her mercurial marriage to James Taylor, the trauma of her son's kidney surgery and her feminist awakening at 35.
Carly is a pop laureate, an explorer and illuminator of the mysteries of man-woman bonds.
On Come Upstairs: Excerpt Note ~ In June of 1980, doctors decided that Ben (age 3) , who had been plagued with unexplained fevers and illness, would have to undergo major surgery to remove a malfuntioning kidney. This article focuses more on that trauma and the rumors surrounding the breakup of her marriage than her music.
The only quote relevant to Come Upstairs is this:
"We often write more out of pain and frustration than exuberance."
On Marriage: "James and I have built a fairy tale house, but we don't live fairy tale lives.
We were both programmed into very convential male-female roles, and we are always struggling with those. James doesn't like the fact that I am so financially independent, and, as for me, I wish he would participate more in the day-to-day household responsibilites. I wish he would do as much fathering as I do mothering.
The press has had James and me on the rocks since the day we were married, and it's true that we talked about divorce once, but that was under the most dire of circumstances. Now it's a forbidden word.
We have a lot of blood coursing through our veins for each other, and I expect to stay married to James as long as I live. I adore the man."
On Performing: Carly is venturing out on a 10 city tour, her first major foray since 1972. She is still afflicted with almost paralyzing stage fright and anxiety attacks.
"I get dizzy, fall into a fight-or-flight sort of adrenaline panic. My heart beats fast and my imagination runs wild."
Read the full article at People Magazine (free)
After Dark magazine cover - November 1980
The Garbo of Rock Emerges
Written by: Alison Steele
Cover photo: Mick Rock
Carly Simon knows the silver spoon, the platinum disc, the gilded marriage. But she still doesn't feel she's a pro at music, and with Come Upstairs takes a new turn.
Battling a press which either paints an overly sweet portrait of her marriage to James Taylor or reports it's on the skids, Carly has stepped back to take another look at her music and her life.
On Come Upstairs: "I love the album and I loved recording it. It flowed so well. I worked with a producer named Mike Mainieri who I wrote most of the album with. He opened my eyes to new tempos that I would've thought were too fast for me. It kind of made me see different aspects of my singing style that would have been closed to before. It feels freer than anything I've ever done before."
Come Upstairs was written in a rented house on the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Carly and James’ home/retreat and locale of the Hot Tin Roof night club which Carly owns a part of. The new album has an urgent, provocative edge that Carly describes as less poetic and more energetic. If traces of her past style still remain, Carly has consciously redirected her approach to her music in order to make her concerts more accessible.
On her upcoming tour: "Going onstage is an important part of my life, something I know I can do well, and why the hell I'm afraid of it makes me very angry and it's something I haven't been able to remove.
I intend to go onstage despite my fear. I have come to realize that I can't go through life avoiding things that scare me."
On Marriage: Describing her first encounter with James Taylor: "It was his eyes, looking out from under long brown hair. His eyes looking half crazed and totally romantic. I remember looking at him and thinking he was magnificent in some strong sense of the word. James seemed like home to me.
I think it would be easier for James if he could be married to someone who wasn't into having a career, who would stay in the Vineyard all year and bake wonderful pies - although I bake a pretty damn good apple pie."
Interview Excerpt ~ by Steve Morse $ Read Full Interview
"It's a case of just getting fed up with certain restrictions you've placed on yourself which all of a sudden you realize you've placed on yourself, and you want to get outside of them . . . Richard Perry, whom I worked with for three albums, always knew it was in me and always tried to bring it out, but I wasn't ready for it yet. There was just something in me that said, No, [CARLY SIMON], you're this well-brought-up girl, and your father, if he could ever hear you sing like this, would be embarrassed.' So I was putting a lot more importance on something that was totally irrelevant . . . I had to get past that and start caring much more about what was really in me."
Simon's burgeoning assertiveness is evident on her new album in the boldly invitational "Come Upstairs" ("more obviously sexual than anything I've ever written; usually I cloak my sexuality in a lot of symbolism") and in her almost primal wailing on "In Pain," a song about transcending emotional numbness. There's also a strangely compelling song, "The Three of Us in the Dark," which recalls the old Jefferson Airplane song, "Triad."
Simon had hoped to back up the album with a summer tour. She wanted to play the Music Inn in Lenox, but since there are no shows there this summer she would have switched to Tanglewood. Yet all plans are off because her son, Benjamin, has just had his left kidney removed and she wants to be with him. Both Carly and [James Taylor], in fact, stayed overnight last week in New York's Children's Hospital, where the operation was performed.
Carly,
I wanted to ask you about what brought about your song "Take Me As I Am"?
The reason I ask, is because it has, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant turns of phrase in the history of pop music... "But for some other dreamin' driver I am that romantic stranger...Looking better than I am, more mysterious by far, etc..." The way you convey this idea that "Hey, maybe this fantasy girl is yours... but maybe I am someone ELSE'S fantasy girl" is just beyond brilliant.
Your entire Come Upstairs album just blows me away, it was so wildly experimental for you and it's one of my favorite "periods" in your musical journey. Would love to know who or what inspired this song.
Warmest Regards,
Ed Francis - Harrisburg, PA
Hi Carly,
I just purchased your Reflections CD. It's great. The words to so many of the songs really touched me. I was wondering who you wrote the 'Jesse' song about. My eleven year old son's name is Jesse and we're both so glad to hear the name used in the male term instead of the female term. It's also nice for us to like the same song. I told him that the song is about him because he's going to be a heartbreaker. I was just curious if you wrote with anyone in mind. You seem like a devoted mother and a really neat lady.
Sincerely, Tina Gere - Monroe MI
Big thanks for many years of inspirational music that just gets better. Our question is - we've always been intrigued by the lyrics to "The Three Of Us In The Dark". We have our own theories as to what the song is about - possibly mixed family tensions? Are you able to enlighten us anymore? Thank you so much. All our love and best wishes.
Mark & Richard - Guildford, Surrey.UK
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