music
as
some of you already know, i am the guitarist/vocalist for the band Bitesize.
we are a three-piece indie-pop band from Oakland and San Francisco and
we have been playing together for over 4 years. since i am also the
lyricist for the
band, it should not come as a surprise that we have a handful
of songs about transgendered people. i've compiled a few of them here
for your listening pleasure! to hear an mp3 of the song, just click
on the song title. to find out even more about our band, please check
out the Bitesize home
page.
Okay,
so this first song is one I wrote the lyrics for right when I was deciding
to transition. It is a puzzle of sorts, chock full of word play and
self references. Sadly, we haven't recorded it yet, but stay tuned...
First
Person Plural
unreleased; written & first performed in 2001
it's a rainy day
so let's play a game of words
i go first
i'm a person place or thing
don't make an ass out of you and me
by making a mistake
on question number three
you seem a little stumped
here's another hint
just look under "t" and you will see
that tom means twin
if this game ends in a tie do we both win
or do we have to play again?
some fantasies are real
but some might take some time
and i'm not gonna kill my twin yet
i will bide my time
some day this may all be mine
but until then this is still a thai game
i drew the short straw
let's call it a draw
or call it sudden death
my name backwards
is the word for word in french
i'm an open letter
don't forget to bring
your decoder ring
i'm sure sigmund freud
would have a field day
what would he say?
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
but this is not a pipe
dream or nightmare
where there's smoke there's fire
my moon's in gemini
it's like we are siamese
we both share a pair of kidneys
some fantasies are real
but some might take some time
and i'm not gonna kill my twin yet
and this will be a little vignette
she reminded me that i am one of a kind (don't wait!)
she said that i can speak my heart and speak my mind (don't wait!)
my initials are almost a dead giveaway
half of what i say is meaningless anyway
she offered me an equal opportunity for life
As
you probably know by now, this next song is the one I named this website
after. Back in early 1998, I remembered for the first time in a while
how I had decided to change my sex back when I was 15. It was fitting
that it happened while I was watching my little league all-star game,
because I was a huge baseball fanatic as a child. In elementary school,
the thing I wanted most in the world was to grow up to be a major league
baseball player. By the time I was 15, the thing I wanted more than
anything else was to be female. While the song is semi-autobiographical,
it does contain a few artistic embellishments: I never actually made
the all-star team (I was watching from the bleachers) and nobody broke
their collar bone that day...
Switch
Hitter
from the CD "The Best of Bitesize", released
in 1999
it's the bottom of the ninth the winning run is on third and i am bored
to death standing out in left field and i would rather be sitting in
the bleachers hanging with the girl in the yellow t-shirt she smiles
like she's awaiting a curtain call waves her arms around like she is
magical i stick out of the ground like a tombstone i blew the big play
and fractured my collar bone a year from now i'll be the center of attention
(i swear my mind's made up) after i have had my sex change operation
i could look you in the eye and i could make you nervous thinking that
i look like i was 60 celsius and you could clown around and make a couple
wisecracks and i could laugh along like a broken laugh track i'll smile
like i'm awaiting a curtain call wave my arms around like i'm magical
brought back down to earth by a curve ball i threw the all star game
and shattered my clavicle...
So
here is yet another song about a transgendered MTF teenager.
Understudy
from the CD "Sophomore Slump", released in 2001
this must be a test maybe they are onto me it's not the way i look my
clip on tie and button shirt are all by the book i dot my i's and cross
my t's and if i cross the line i'm just rehearsing my part if i'm ophelia
then i will put the shake in shakespeare i get to go mad reviving ophelia
and i will put the ham in hamlet i get to go mad it's more than a supporting
role in a play that's being put on by an all boy's catholic school it's
cool because i get to go mad this must be a test every eye is watching
me will this be permanent press for my arch diocese my religion class
is all but failing me maybe it's a sign i'm just rehearsing my lines...and
i will put the dame in danish...there's a method to my madness i'm not
just acting out there's a madness to my method i'm not pretending now
there's a method to my madness i'm not just acting out they say practice
makes perfect and i'm rehearsing my lines...i don't want to be the understudy
i want to go mad!
This
next song is about a transsexual who (after many years) finally gets
revenge on the guy who used to pick on her when she was a young boy:
Surprise
Ending
from "Sophomore Slump", released in 2001"
he was there for the latest foreign flick (he's a film buff) he was
always thinking with his dick (with his crew cut) he didn't recognize
her from the back of the line (he was blind) he made a comment about
her behind (it was fine) she couldn't believe that it was him but she
didn't pay any attention behind her behind her behind her behind her
who's behind her behind her behind her? she remembered how he used to
make her feel like shit (he's a turd) and now surprise! he just stepped
in it (he deserved that) he made a comment about her rear end (he's
a bum) she turned around and she laughed at him (here it comes) she
reminded him of where he used to know her from and he started to double
over...what a waste of a whole tub of popcorn raisinettes on the floor
where he dropped them and a big puddle of pepsi cola and she didn't
pay any attention...
This
is the kind of vague anthem that one writes when they simultaneously
want and don't want the whole world to know that they are transgendered...
I
Forgot My Mantra
from the CD "The
Best of Bitesize", released in 1999
there are things
that i'd like to say but i don't know how there are things that i'd
like to do but not right now i just saw a movie that i really liked
but i don't want to do a movie bit i just heard a joke that i like a
lot but i forget and if you think a lot you think you know and if you
drink a lot you're really drunk and if you think you suck you really
suck and when you're hot you're hot i'm a hermaphrodite but that's beside
the point i have friends who are kind of obnoxious but once you get
to know them they're OK i do secret things when i'm alone in my room
but exactly what i will not say there are things that i often do in
public but they're embarrassing i do secret things when i'm alone in
my room because i'm into that thing...
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