Lisa worked with musician and producer Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters) on her third release, Ordinary Days. From this experience, Lisa learned to shape a more organic soundscape and to explore mood to complement her delicate voice and poetic themes. On We Were All Together, the songs explore these ideas even further. All the musical and lyrical elements work sparingly to speak of those things that sometimes go unsaid but are frequently felt, bringing the listener in close. Since many of the songs were written after the loss of Lisa’s father, Lisa’s songs prove to be a more personal outing than those of the past, yet at the same time, continue to cover universal ground (“Tiny Patch of Earth”, “Change the Ending”). Still, there is also a whimsical quality found in songs inspired by her children (“Mia Noelle”, “Humming”, and “You Are So Loved”). These songs highlight the redemptive nature of life. Whether the songs are joyful or melancholic, or anywhere in between, at the forefront of Lisa’s work is an attempt to hold onto fleeting moments with love and hope.
Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her family and is a professor teaching English as a Second Language when she is not writing.
Black Holes Don't Disappear
Lisa Cerbone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What happens between is what worries me.
Never know just how to talk to you.
There's too much hope in my voice.
I ask too many questions - and, I never mention myself.
You're busy planting flowers your dog digs up.
You're busy sketching ideas on how to make a shack a castle.
When you get the spirit to build again,
All you see are your mistakes.
The tone of your voice keeps getting quieter and quieter.
And, in the storms of my excuse me's and confusion,
I think I finally hear a piece of what you mean.
These words stand between us.
Your whole life is governed by your nightmares and your daydreams.
Someday soon I hope one of these dreams will finally come true;
Then you'll have to listen to me.
By then, I'll be tongue-tied.
The lyrics of Lisa Cerbone's song "Black Holes Don't Disappear" describe a complex relationship where communication is difficult and hope is mixed with apprehension. The lines "All our hi's and good-bye's are great. What happens between is what worries me" suggest that the singer is concerned about what goes on in the space between the pleasantries of their interactions. The singer's difficulty in communicating is highlighted by the line "Never know just how to talk to you. There's too much hope in my voice. I ask too many questions - and, I never mention myself." Here, we see that the singer is struggling to share their own thoughts and needs, possibly because they are afraid of overwhelming the other person or of being rejected.
The second verse of the song mentions the other person spending their time planting flowers and sketching ideas, but also reveals that they are haunted by their mistakes. The singer observes this struggle from a distance, through a "telescope," and tries to listen through the "storms" of their own confusion. The line "Your whole life is governed by your nightmares and your daydreams" paints a picture of someone whose imagination rules their reality, while the singer hopes that one of these dreams will come true so that the other person will be forced to listen.
Overall, the lyrics of "Black Holes Don't Disappear" convey a sense of distance and uncertainty in a relationship where the two parties are struggling to connect with each other. The singer's hope for a future where they can communicate more openly and the other person can listen more attentively is tempered with a sense of resignation and even fear about how they might feel when that moment arrives.
Line by Line Meaning
All our hi's and good-bye's are great.
We greet each other and say goodbye very well, but everything in between worries me because communication is not easy.
What happens between is what worries me.
Communication between us is challenging, and it concerns me.
Never know just how to talk to you.
I am unsure of how to communicate with you effectively.
There's too much hope in my voice.
I express a lot of hope without taking into account the reality of the situation.
I ask too many questions - and, I never mention myself.
I tend to ask a lot of questions, but I never talk about myself.
You're busy planting flowers your dog digs up.
You are occupied with activities that result in you planting flowers, but your dog ends up digging them up.
You're busy sketching ideas on how to make a shack a castle.
You are preoccupied with making a plan to turn a basic structure into a grander one.
When you get the spirit to build again,
When you become motivated to create or construct something again,
I see your tug-of-war through this telescope.
I see the internal conflict you are experiencing from a distance.
All you see are your mistakes.
All you notice is the things you think you do wrong.
The tone of your voice keeps getting quieter and quieter.
Your tone of voice is consistently getting softer.
And, in the storms of my excuse me's and confusion,
In the middle of misunderstandings and confusion,
I think I finally hear a piece of what you mean.
I think I am starting to understand what you mean, at least partially.
These words stand between us.
Words and miscommunications are causing us to be disconnected.
Your whole life is governed by your nightmares and your daydreams.
You are governed by both negative and positive thoughts, creating an imbalance in your life.
Someday soon I hope one of these dreams will finally come true;
I hope that one of your dreams will become a reality soon.
Then you'll have to listen to me.
Once your dreams come true, you will then have to acknowledge and listen to me.
By then, I'll be tongue-tied.
By that time, I may have difficulty communicating my thoughts effectively.
Contributed by Caden I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.