The Light Comes On By Itself

"The Light Comes On By Itself" is a song by Ricky Ian Gordon setting a poem of Frank O'Hara. The song is part of Ricky Ian Gordon's songbook Songs of Our Time: 14 Songs Set to Poems by Contemporary Poets.

Date: 2005Composer: Ricky Ian GordonText: Frank O’HaraSong Collection: Songs of Our Time

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Text

[THE LIGHT COMES ON BY ITSELF]
by Frank O’Hara

The light comes on by itself
and just as independently off
it goes into the strange sounds of breathing
I am waiting for you to love me

the grass grows and
ants are clambering laboriously over the windowsill
near the paling clouds
I am waiting for you to love me

now a death enters and dumps
suits and dresses out into the
street where the holes are filled and oil stains spread
I am waiting for you to love me

I have a penchant for sad red bricks
and the sun burning itself out up there
for toll booths and water towers and
I am waiting for you to love me

now these streets are becoming winding
the house is falling down not being torn
while I am looking for a right-angle street avenue boulevard anything
I am waiting for you to love me

Sheet Music

Songs of Our Time

Composer(s): Ricky Ian Gordon

Song(s): Virginia Woolf
Friend
Little Horse
Spell against Sorrow
The Light Comes on by Itself
Pont Mirabeau
A Poem of Unrest
This Room
If You Can
Aspen Tree
Three Floors
The Crazy Woman
Child
Dreams / Feet o' Jesus

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