My Winter Coat - The Roches

Viewed 14 times


Print this lyrics Print it!

     
Page format: Left Center Right
Direct link:
BB code:
Embed:

My Winter Coat Lyrics

the fit is generous and loose
the coat is filled with down of goose

should I feel guilty about that?
I wouldn't wear the fur of a cat

the coat is black so in New York City
it doesn't look dirty it stays pretty

the cuffs are purple which perfectly suits
a pair I already had of boots

can't help sharing on a personal note
a secret I have concerning the coat

one of the reasons that it got my vote
is the way it lies open around the throat

for me the collar mustn't come too high
because well all right my skin is dry


so each morning I rub my face with oil
and the fabric you see the grease could soil

can we speak a moment about the lining
after my own heart's designing

it's nylon so your skirts don't wind
up in a bunch around your behind

when the time comes for the coat to clean
you throw this thing in the washing machine

drying you doubt but the filling does fluff
I'm here to proclaim this coat is enough

the length of the coat is below the knees
so in the cold your legs don't freeze

I'm nuts about another one of its charms
there's plenty of room underneath the arms

the coat's not bulky it weighs about an ounce
and it's practically void of any frivolous flounce


I will admit it has shoulder pads
all things considered it's not so bad

it looks all right even from the side
I guess because the bottom isn't overly wide

okay so you say you'd prefer something hipper
but can I just tell you about the zipper

I searched for it for many years
last one I had I tore up in tears

it turned me into Jack the Ripper
but now I stepped in Cinderella's slipper

it runs from the gullet to just south of the crotch
and workin' it's a task you can hardly botch

it's made of a material that will not rust
it won't get stuck you don't get fussed

it undoes easily in the usual way
but you can also pull it up if you'd like to, let's say

SIT DOWN ON THE TRAIN OR CLIMB SOME STAIRS
YOUR DESIRE TO BEND THIS COAT ABOUT SHARES

there's snaps as well which I don't even use
but they beat out buttons if I had to choose

I remember the night I went to the store
fighting my way across the cloak-stuffed floor

suffocating I was it seemed
when from a rack this last hope beamed

of all my requirements I pursued the trail
to find furthermore the damn thing was on sale

it had a small chain at the back of the neck
so you could hang it on a hook but it broke what the heck

with the end of each sleeve I'm totally smitten
ample space for to emerge a thick mitten

if you wanna be warm it wins far and away
it's like walkin' around in your bed all day

I know you're not supposed to be so fond of a thing
but today this is my heartfelt inspiration to sing

I hope you don't think I'm merely trying to be clever
I wish this coat would last forever

Lyrics provided by LyricsEver.com
The Roches (Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy Roche) were a vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.

The Roches were active as performers and recording artists from the mid-1970s through 2007, at various times performing as a trio and in pairs.
In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry", born April 10, 1953) quit school to tour as a duo. Maggie wrote most of the songs, with Terre contributing to a few. The sisters got a break when Paul Simon brought them in as backup singers on his 1973 #2 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. They got his assistance (along with an appearance by The Oak Ridge Boys) on their only album as a duo, Seductive Reasoning (1975). Shortly after that, youngest sister Suzzy (rhymes with "fuzzy", born September 29, 1956) joined the group to form The Roches trio.

Around this time, they parlayed bartending jobs at famous Greenwich Village folk venue Gerde's Folk City into stage appearances, an experience they commemorated in their song, "Face Down at Folk City" (from Another World, 1985). It was here that they met many of their future singing and songwriting collaborators. Terre was now writing songs as well, and by the time of their first album as a trio, The Roches (1979), Suzzy had also begun writing. Robert Fripp produced the album. Maggie's "The Married Men" from this album was eventually to become the biggest hit of the songwriting trio — not for them, but for Phoebe Snow. After Snow and Linda Ronstadt performed the song in a duet on Saturday Night Live, the Roches were invited themselves to perform on the show a few months later in 1979 at the behest of Paul Simon. They did two songs, both unreleased at the time, "Bobby's Song" and "The Hallelujah Chorus".

Throughout the 1980s, The Roches continued to release their music to small audiences, little or no air play, and only modest record sales. Their widest exposure in the '80s was an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in November 1985, where they performed their song "Mr. Sellack". In 1990, they returned to their Christmas-caroling roots with the release of the 24-track We Three Kings, which included the a cappella "Star of Wonder", written by Terre. After another pop album (A Dove, 1992), they recorded an entire album of children's songs entitled Will You Be My Friend?, featuring a song by brother David and various young backup singers, including Suzzy's daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche.

After a tour interrupted by the death of their father, The Roches released Can We Go Home Now (1995), the last original recording they released as a trio until 2007.

In 1997, the sisters formally put their group on long-term hold. They continued to work on solo projects and often collaborated on albums and performances. Terre teaches guitar workshops and has released a solo album. Suzzy, who has acted on the stage and in several movies, released two of her own albums and two with Maggie, with whom she has toured. All three sisters periodically participated in New York-area events. At the end of 2005, the three Roches (with brother Dave) reunited for a short but highly successful holiday tour. Several more appearances in the U.S. and Canada took place in 2006–07, and in March 2007, after a 12-year hiatus, The Roches released a new studio album, Moonswept. Following the tour for Moonswept, the Roches announced that they would no longer be touring, although they have made isolated appearances individually and as a group, mostly in and around New York City.

On January 21, 2017, Maggie Roche died of cancer at age 65.

Maggie had an "unusual" contralto voice – "almost a baritone." Terre provides a soprano that brackets the upper range of the sisters, while Suzzy fills in the middle range. While touring, the sisters accompany themselves with guitars and keyboards, occasionally with additional musicians.

Brother David is also a singer-songwriter with his own solo album, and has often backed up the trio on their recordings. Maggie's son, Felix McTeigue, has recorded three albums (one with his group Filo). Suzzy's daughter, Lucy, has also contributed vocals on the Roches' and McTeigue's albums, and in 2007 she produced an EP of her own, 8 Songs, followed by 8 More in 2008 and tours opening for acts such as Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls. Lucy has released two full-length albums, "Lucy" in 2010, and "There's a Last Time for Everything" in 2013. Her father is Loudon Wainwright III, and she is the half-sister of singers Martha and Rufus Wainwright.

The majority of Roches songs are written by the three sisters, whether individually, in every combination, or collaborating with other songwriters. They have also recorded their own arrangements of songs by a variety of New York folk artists, as well as a few covers of famous songs. Their three-part arrangement of the four-part "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah, featured on Keep On Doing (1982), is well regarded in a cappella circles.

Discography

- Maggie and Terre Roche
Seductive Reasoning (Columbia, 1975)
I Gave My Love a Kerry (Earth Rock Wreckerds, 2004)

- The Roches
The Roches (Warner, 1979)
Nurds (Warner, 1980)
Keep On Doing (Warner, 1982)
Another World (Warner, 1985)
No Trespassing (Real Live Records, 1986)
Speak (MCA, 1989)
We Three Kings (MCA, 1990)
A Dove (MCA, 1992)
Will You Be My Friend? (Baby Boom, 1994)
Can We Go Home Now (Rykodisc, 1995).
The Collected Works of the Roches (Rhino/Warner, 2003)
Moonswept (429 Records, 2007)
Rhino HiFive: The Roches (Rhino/Warner, 2007)

- Suzzy Roche
Holy Smokes (Red House, 1997)
Songs from an Unmarried Housewife and Mother, Greenwich Village, USA (Red House, 2000)

- Terre Roche
The Sound of a Tree Falling (Earth Rock Wreckerds, 1998)

- Suzzy & Maggie Roche
Zero Church (Red House, 2002)
Why The Long Face (Red House, 2004)
Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche[edit]
Fairytale and Myth (2013)
Mud and Apples (2016)

- Terre Roche, Sidiki Conde and Marlon Cherry (as Afro-Jersey)
Afro-Jersey (2013) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

View All

The Roches