Oh yeah, the song first time in public, so
“Love Is Gold”© 2010 bret carr

I had a great trip to NYC – I’ve written songs with some amazing artists: Emma Lasry, Natalie Major, David Homyk, and also did some fun stuff like playing at this street piano.

Here are the lyrics for the song “Rat Race”, written by me (Alina Smith) and my friend Emma Joleen from Australia. It’s kinda funny, singing a song about LA life on a street in NYC :

Rat Race
(but hey, even if you win the rat race you’re still a rat

Jesus on the street
Screaming out at me
Follow me, follow me, follow me
Freak!
I’m down in the limelight line, that’s the Hollywood life
Girl in front of me
Yakking on her phone
Turn it down, turn it down, turn it down
Bitch
Watch out, if I get that part, suga I ma run this town, ouch

And the cars drive by, going beep, beep, beep
Boy I feel like I ma fry in the heat, heat, heat
And I just want to make it now

In the rat race
In the rate race
In the rat race
I’m living, I’m living
In the rat race
In the rat race

Moving up the line
Called inside
Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood types
Stare down in my shirt, that’s how it goes
So the camera rolls and I say hello
But they say cut, get out, cuz we’re looking for a blonde
And you’re legs ain’t long enough, girl

So I raise my hand, saying no, no, no
But they drag me by my hair, and I go, go, go
yelling: “That’s why I hate LA!”

It’s a rat race
A rate race
A rat race
I’m living, I’m living
In the rat race
In the rat race
And I just want to get out of this place

People try to bring me down
My head is spinning round and round
It makes me wanna leave,
Escape, escape, escape

Packing my bags
Sick of this town
Struggling struggling, struggling
Fudge
Now I’ve had enough, I’m giving up

At the door
My phone rings
Ding-aling
Sweet
They want me back to do my thang
I ma do my thing
I ma do my thing

I’m back in the rat race

(c) 2010 Alina Smith & Emma Joleen

In the beginning, I set out to play all five boroughs, but soon realized my day job wouldn’t easily accommodate all the travel and logistics involved. So I reset my sights instead on playing every available Manhattan piano (and a few in Brooklyn and Queens). By the end of two weeks I had achieved my goal.

My pieces are all improvisations, so playing on the streets of New York allowed me to share my spontaneous, energetic music with a city whose rhythms and tones have informed and influenced my music for years. The chance to publicly give back to a city whose people, music, and spirit have brought me joy for decades was the opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks for watching and listening.

From the heart,

Sandy Santra

To play piano outdoors while the traffic was whizzing by on Second Avenue was a nice feeling. Hundreds of people walked by as though seeing somebody play piano near the sidewalk was the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it is.

Thanks to Luke Jerram and to everyone who drove the trucks, tuned the pianos and dealt with the city officials to make this social experiment such a success. I played five of the pianos in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and at each one, people were surprised and a bit disappointed that the pianos would not be available all summer.

Please do this again next year!

More notes here:
http://www.3dotsmusic.com/blog.html/play_me_im_yours/