Sonja van Hamel

winterland

winterland

Let me take you by the handAnd lead you back to WinterlandIt’s a strange uncommon roadThe only way to go

As time grows flowersI’m on the edge of a fieldWhere grass leaves towersOn canvas almost real

I guess I’m feeling comfortableLike a shadow on the wallAll is strange and all is trueAnd all the Me is You

As time grows flowers I’m floating back on a cloudThese weightless hoursSolid to the ground

I keep stories in mindOf people talkingRocks that are kindWalking trees that sing a chorus

I like travelling timeAnd in my dreams I see through the nightWinterland is right before us

As time grows flowers I’m floating back on a cloudThese weightless hoursSolid to the ground

I keep stories in mindOf people talkingRocks that are kindWalking trees that sing a chorus

I like travelling timeAnd in my dreams I see through the nightWinterland is right before us

wHy do people talk?

I should have left you sitting on a Stone Age FenceI know I should have much more opinionI’m like a rock that’s hiding from the waving sandIn a shady spot

Why do people talk?When they don’t know what they sayWhenever I’m awakeI hear songs occur from sleeping birds

I never questioned living was a simple planI never rest my back on a pillowI’m on a track and tracing down to WinterlandIn a strobic sun

Why do people talk?When they don’t care what they sayWhenever I’m awakeI hear songs occur from sleeping birds

We speak, we smileDisagree once in a whileThese words remain Unheard, spoken today

Riddles and rhymesStories and signsLetters and callsWhy do people talk?

inStant cHemiStry

I can feel there is chemistry in the airBetter switch on and tune in thereI’m a fugitive, I’m on a planeWith a sixth sense for instant painI hear people think, you don’t careJust a crush upon a love affairThink of what you said, I don’t knowSo I’ll just go with the flow

I think I know what you’re looking forA silhouette on a postcard at the shoreTry to take a closer look once more

Many places I wanna go you haven’t seenOnly pictures in a magazineKeeping busy just to hang around’Cause the best comes in small amountsI was laughing over silly scenesAn obsession with fullfilling dreamsNow we’re backing off and pretty nearI wish that you were here

I think you know where you wanna beIt’s just a matter of instant chemistryTry to take a closer look and see

parallel l iveS

We were never far From the spot where the arrow pointsIn a rundown barOn a street in the Tenderloin

What is the place we’re gonna meet?What is the timing of the beat?What is the tune we’re tuning in?What is the set we’re gonna sing?

We were laughing and debatingAlways looking out, always waitingFor you to arriveIn Parallel Lives

We were never farFrom the point where we turn intoBeing superstarsPlaying shows at the Make Out Room

What is the place we’re gonna meet?What is the timing of the beat?What is the tune we’re tuning in?What is the set we’re gonna sing?

When I caught your eyeIt had never appealed to meThen I recognizedYou have always been here with meOn the other sideOf the split screening of our lives

let ’ S Start

Just carry me like a bag of nickelsAnd count me while you driveGive me all the change that’s left to figureIt out when we arrive

Let’s buy ourselves a house and garageWith kids out in the yardLet’s go pretend that we are averageLet’s start

So I am alone and you are lonelyMost people come in pairsI’ll let you be if I can onlyJust sit around and stare

Let’s buy ourselves a little kittenThat’ll follow us aroundResponsibilities are written In sound

b izarro c ity

The city lits As I take my bike to Brooklyn Heights And over the bridge The moving sounds Are pulling me into town

New York shines With a heavy moon upon her shouldersStreets on a spine Of Avenues like rollercoasters

Come on let’s bail To a place that comes bizarro styleWhere we can never fail And be superheroes for a while

So here’s a planWe’ll meet up in a bar in SohoWest-coast friends Complete the chorus Making the verses blend

Out on a stray I pass along a million facesCall it a dayI’m on the floor and calculating

Come on let’s bail To a place that comes bizarro styleWhere we can never failAnd be superheroes for a whileHead to tail We keep following the dotted lineThat leads us back on trailThrough the woods of scrapers in the sky

tranSparent roomS

Don’t say you always kept me waitingSo stay in the distance and remainThis time you accidently wasted was mineYou’re my funny Valentine

What have I done so far?What if I kept it coming?What’s the view up there like from a cloud?What if I grabbed the moon?What if the roof was lifted?I am seeing through Transparent Rooms

I drew you sitting in the cornerYou knew all my faces but a fewCome down, sometimes you’ll see me roaming aroundIn the scenery of sound

What have I done so far?What if I kept it coming?What’s the view up there like from a star?What if I grabbed the moon?What if the roof was lifted?I am seeing through Transparent Rooms

At last the minute that we parted has passedHear the beating in my chest

tHe beSt dayS of my l i fe

Johnny wasn’t here, ungrateful and unhappyJohnny wasn’t here and fainted to the groundWe were standing near, outrageously, uncannyWearing off the gear and playing to the crowd

I can never tell,I guess I’m doing wellTime travelling, spirits levelling And blue eyes diving in

What if it’s bound to happenWhat if I tryWhat if the sky is crackingWhat if I sleep and what if I die

What if time elapses And finds me sitting there one nightStaring at the picture slidesOf The Best Days of My Life

Johnny didn’t mind driving down togetherHe would always find his kicks in timeAnd then he’d write most upsetting lettersTo anyone who digs his rhymes

I can’t always tell,I guess he’s doing wellTime travelling, spirits levelling And blue eyes diving in

S ick of goodbyeS

Sunny days Passing the time awayIn hot water springsWith coloured soft drinksQuiet livesWhen we go out at nightWe point at the skyAnd count the satellites

I’m not afraid Of giving an understatementOn things that I seeThe things that bother meEvery timeThere is a flattening lineI point at my heartAnd make the beat go thunder

Remember how we started offWith pictures that show the six of usWonder why we didn’t lastIn spite of the factWe were given the bestThis is when I hit the groundAnd realise it all comes down to whyI’m so sick of goodbyes

We’re sad, we’re insaneLasting lives in given namesCome back, keep it upClimb a summit, reach the topCome find sense to healTricks to mend a soul of steelSlow down, sleeping inThink it over to begin with

dream interrupt ionS

It’s just the weight of your mindIt’s just the curve in your spineIt’s this position I takeI’m half asleep half awake

Dream interruptions go byIn times in which we don’t tryThese many options float byRemember we both know why

It’s just the crack in your voice (It’s breaking)It’s just the lack of a choice (You’re making)It’s this decision I made (I’m leaving)To spend my life in a day (I’m breathing again)

Dream interruptions go byIn times in which we don’t tryThese many options float byRemember we both know why

All together we keep what was given todayWrite a letter a week, just to keep it awakeAlways try to achieve, keep a mind of your ownBetter take it or leave, gotta see how it grows

coSmic fear

Sliding on a craft the atmosphere is breathingHolding my feelings backMoon is on the left she’s smiling like a maniacAnd time is elasticLonely in a crowd companions are weakeningSilence is all aroundMoving to the right the moon is shifting out Of sightTime is elastic

Watching a world so amazingThe colors are constantly changingI am so lost but right in place

Once there was a time When everything was evenClosed in and certifiedLove was passing byThe emptiness was terrifyingBut time was elastic

Watching a world so amazingWhere people are constantly changingWhy do I keep on waitingFor someone to come fade in

Come closer but keeping safeIt’s too much for a man to takeGet closer, we’re gonna get nearTo overcoming this cosmic fear

Lying on my back I’m starring at a planetDrifting into the blackEverything is set, the map is on the ceiling yetTime is elastic

Sally in winterland

I crossed the line to WinterlandI tossed a coin to knowLeft over right, sound over sightWatching the landscape growOut of my hands it flows

I lost my sense of innocenceI caused this crack in timeMeadows and hills fade into stillsWatching a cosmic flightLitting up in my eyes

i am So free

Just a minute before our eyes collideI was blinded by weary thinkingNo direction to go, no step behind In time (this time)I’m fine (she’s fine)

All the words that were navigatingAll the thoughts that I pushed asideI just needed some time to realizeMy eyes (her eyes)Were right (she’s right)

I’m so free, I am just meUp in the sky on the eye that carries meI’m so free, now I can seeI am the one that I was meant to be

Just a minute ago I saw myselfGently rendered in pencil picturedI was never too far from why I’m hereSo near (she’s near)I’m here (she’s here)

All the travels and expeditionsAll the levels we took for realTo the one that I was I say goodbye Oh my (goodbye) Hello (goodbye)

I’m so free, I am just meUp in the sky on the eye That carries meI’m so free, now I can seeI am the one That I was meant to be

I say my name it’s just the sameSally Dewinter I became

Solid into the ground we growUp to the sky we’re bound to goNothing can stop us now we’re hereAll that we ever were is nearStretching into a cloud so highReaching for Sally in the sky

All songs written and arranged by Sonja van Hamel. String and brass orchestrations on track 1, 3, 7, 12, 13 & 14 by Martin Fondse. All lyrics by Sonja van Hamel, exept for 1 & 14: lyrics by Dick Tuinder and Sonja van Hamel.

Drums & bass recorded at Rik Hansen’s boat-house. Strings on 1, 3, 7, 12, 13 & 14; clarinet & bassclarinet on 3, 7, 13 & 14; trumpet on 14 recorded at LeRoy Studio. Everything else recorded at Sonja’s home studio. Mixed at Frank van der Weij studio. Mastered at Amsterdam Mastering by Darius van Helf-teren. All songs published by Basta Music.

Produced by Gert-Jan Blom and Sonja van Hamel.

Mark van den Driest - Drums & percussionRik Hansen - Bass & slide guitar on 10Annie Tangberg - Cello & banjo on 3Hanna Vink - Backing vocals & guitar on 10Sonja van Hamel - Vocals, Wurlitzer piano, harpsichord, upright piano, Mellotron (flutes, celli, vibes, strings and boys choir), banjo, glockenspiel, melodica & typewriter

The Winterland String Quartet conducted by Martin Fondse:Jasper Le Clercq - ViolinHerman van Haaren - ViolinBenny von Gutzeit - ViolaAnnie Tangberg - Cello

Claudio Puntin - ClarinetsStijn Westenend - TrumpetBerend Dubbe - Vocals on I Am So Free

Drawings and paintings by Dick Tuinder.Photo by Eddo Hartmann.Graphic design by Sonja.

Many thanks to Gert-Jan Blom, Rik Hansen, Frank van der Weij and all the musicians who played on this album. Special thanks to Dick Tuinder for creating Sally Dewinter and Winterland, and for unconditional trust and support.

Sally Dewinter is a fictional character that sometimes appears in movies like Most Things Never Happen and Winterland. Songs 1, 2, 7, 12, 13, 14, & 15 were written for Winterland, a film by Dick Tuinder.