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Kara McGraw
Artist Bio
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Artist Bio
In the woods of Berlin, VT, Kara McGraw was allowed to exercise her imagination. She was born June 8th, 1983, and, starting at a very early age, she explored human nature and values through story-writing. Music was simply the next natural step she could take during this process of discovery, allowing her to artistically express her understanding of herself and others.
Kara started writing tunes from the moment she began taking piano lessons in second grade. She created her first song with words in seventh grade and soon after entered a period of heightened inspiration and productivity. She wrote her first operetta in 8th and 9th grades, and, with the guidance of her composition teacher, Erik Nielsen, arranged the work for small orchestra. This hour-long work dealt with issues of love and loss and was performed at Kara's high school during her senior year.
The songs in Kara's first CD are piano-voice pieces composed during high school and her first year at Ithaca College. Her melodies have been described as both distinctively sweet and demonstratively powerful. Her music often deals with topics like love and heartache, conformity, spirituality, and the search for belonging. In each piece a story unfolds and, by the end of the song, the listener approaches a new understanding of the topic at hand.
Music Samples
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Album: Kara McGraw 
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Newly Recorded Songs! |
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Music Written for Video and Musicals |
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Programmatic Modern Compositions |
Lyrics
Comic Books and Flashlights
The Angel's Heart
The Cowboy and the Sky
Flux in Time
One Lifetime
Going On
Not
Weathervane (instrumental)
Patchwork
Descent
Ebb and Flow
Good Enough
Avatar (instrumental)
Home
The Crowd
Comic Books and Flashlights
In a dark street of New York
Spiderman fought Octavious
With a tentacle Otto clutched him
Spidey’s fate was looking grim
As the hero toiled, he looked up
He found that he was just...
A small boy with a bug bite
beneath an acre moon
with a comic book and flashlight
He knew no world beyond his room
And he wondered how come he can’t be
The hero in his fantasy
He was more than he seemed to be...
But he’d never be a hero
Gave it up for the Wall Street Journal
Well, gotta live somehow
Joined those everyday faces who
pack their lives in square briefcases
Those false pretenses
and picket fences
took him in
Where did the color go?
He’s lost in his cubicle!
He would look up and he’d see
the person he was born to be
He used to be...
Just a small boy with a bug bite
beneath an acre moon
with a comic book and flashlight
He’d known no world beyond his room
And he wondered how come he can’t be
The small boy in his memories
But the world had killed his dreams
killed his dreams...
The Angel’s Heart
Have you ever wondered if an angel’s heart could break
When for you she’d put her fragile heart at stake?
No one sees the pain in her eyes
No one hears her unvoiced cries
Still she would give everything that she has for you
You only saw the gift
And you never saw through the eyes of the giver
You cast my heart adrift
The only thing you ever gave were these few words:
“You are an angel.”
But have you ever wondered if this angel’s heart can break
when for you I put my fragile heart at stake?
You don’t see the pain in my eyes
No one hears my unvoiced cries
Still I would give everything that I have for you
The Cowboy and the Sky
My heart left me for the Cowboy and the Sky
My heart split and now there’s no place for to fly
My eyes are blazing. I don’t know how I feel
I found a dream, but is it real?
You say, “I’m dead.” I say, “You’re not, what do you mean?”
You say, “And you’re dead to me if you pursue that dream.”
I beg you no. You say it’s so, you have no choice
Well, is this love? Is this my voice?
Days go by and all the time we shared together
Is frozen now forever, but it will last
For time may fly, but our shadows won’t surrender
dancing ’cross the pages of the past...
’Cause my heart left you for the Cowboy, don’t ask why
My heart’s split. You know, it kills to hear you cry
My eyes are blazing. You don’t know how this feels!
I found a dream, but is it real?
Days go by and all the time we shared together
Is frozen now forever, but it will last
For time may fly, but our shadows won’t surrender
Dancing ’cross the pages of the past...
My heart left us for the Cowboy
We had our dance and now it’s time to say goodbye
Goodbye...
Flux in Time
We breathe, we sigh
We live, we die
A flux in time, no reason no rhyme
We work, we try
We ache, we cry
If life’s a chore, tell me, what is it for?
There are paupers everywhere
But the merchant class don’t care
The amount of scum is slowly mounting
Working hard to pay the debt
Our utmost goal is to collect
Enough to last us through the winter
For when that cold wind blows
The souls out in the snow tremble in fear
Wailing, “Surely, the night will fall early...”
This world can be a living hell
When you’ve got nothing new to sell
And no one stable for to turn to
You gotta hide away your tears
Just deny that you have fears
But don’t get close to anybody
And so the years pass by
We owe a debt to time
Oh Lord above, hear our plea:
“Let time forget me...”
But time won’t forget
We breathe, we sigh
We live, we die
A flux in time, no reason, no rhyme
We work, we try
We ache, we cry
This life’s a chore for the foresworn poor.
One Lifetime
Dad told me back in the 90’s
That what you see is what you get
And the concept of spirit’s wishful thinking
Man’s only made of bones and flesh
He said, &ldquote;Just one lifetime.
That’s all that anyone ever gets.&rdquote;
Now your memory stirs inside me
Shifting the molecules in my brain
The sea in my heart parts and divides me
And floods from my eyes in waves of pain
What good is one lifetime
If that’s all that anyone ever gets?
What good is one lifetime
If that’s all that anyone ever gets?
Count the stars in their battlefield
They claw the darkness before they yield
If stardust is the source of all
Then let me shine before for I fall!
’Cause I’ve got one lifetime
And that’s all that anyone ever gets!
One lifetime
That’s all that anyone ever gets
And now your phantom lives inside me,
Haunting the molecules in my brain
I walk through life with you beside me
You are my shadow in the rain...
Going On
I could go on without him,
but lonely I’d stay
If he went on without me
would he be happy that way?
You’ll never see inside of me...
that I love you
I love you
So I won’t hold you back
Just don’t look back
And I’ll go on without you
But lonely I’ll stay
You go on without me
It’s better that way
for now I see it cannot be
I could go on without him,
but lonely I’ll stay
Go on without me!
It’s better that way
You won’t love me, so let it be.
Not
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think I am??
There’s more to me
than your eyes can see
What did you think I’d do?
Think I’d give in to you??
That will not be
You can’t own me
You’ll not
You’ll not
I’ll not
Just another womanizer
’Lives life fully, grows no wiser
Think I’m just a girl like all the ones before?
Not this time!
I am more!
And you’ll not!
You’ll not!
I’ll not!
Oo, You’ll not!
I’ll not!
You’ll not!
I’ll not...
You’ll never see.
Weathervane
(instrumental)
Patchwork
Patchwork with brilliant colors
No one sees the darker shades
And as I lie here with patchwork covers
I know no one’s seen the dark side of me
I never had the guts to show them my tears
And to think, ’thought I was tough all these years
Guess I’m the patchwork girl
But I know I’ll carry on
But as the patchwork girl
I fit in but don’t belong
The patchwork girl
Is here to make you smile
But as the patchwork girl
Wonder if it’s all worthwhile...
Fighting, protect the tree house!
And I swore I’d be a hero one day
Practiced all the sword work
Though I knew I was such a scrawny little thing
I had a dream that I would save the world
Never mind I was a little girl
I’m the patchwork girl
But I know I’ll carry on
But as the patchwork girl
I fit in but don’t belong
The patchwork girl
Is here to make you smile
But as the patchwork girl
Wonder if it’s all worthwhile...
Patchwork... Patchwork...
No one sees the darker shades of the
Patchwork...
The darker shades of the
Patchwork girl...
Descent
She’s dead on the floor with socks on her hands
And an old crumpled sketch of the ideal man
She’s never been held, she’s never felt loved,
And she’s dead on the floor, all alone
Winding down the spiral staircase
A pathway that never leads up
Shadows dancing outside the light
Watching her last flame be snuffed
Watch your step
Don’t fall through the crack
Witness her words drowned in a teacup
One voice is never enough
There was a time when a smile was sincere
The path ahead was clear
And everyone had someone...
Unicorn nightlight
She had an infatuation with Rainbow Bright
Pigtails... Dust to dust.
Mama, where have the good times gone?
This dusk burst from dawn...
Now she’s dead on the floor with socks on her hands
And an old crumpled sketch of the ideal man
She’s never been held, she’s never felt loved,
And she’s dead on the floor, all alone...
Ebb and Flow
Love’s not eternal
Though your heart may cry it is so
No, love does not last forever
With the tide it will ebb and flow
I put my heart into the song
Trusting that love would go on
But now I’m alone
The past is gone
And I know love’s not eternal
Though your heart may cry it is so
No, love does not last forever
Tell me, where did the loving go?
Good Enough
I remember your smile, your smell, your skin
I remember everything
You told me your heart was mine to keep
Guess my beauty was only skin deep
You say, “You’re not good enough, that’s what it comes down to”
You say, “You’re not good enough, if you really want the truth.”
You say, “But you’re sure proud enough, I know that you can make through.
Though you’re not good enough for me, you’re sure good enough for you.”
Ohhh...
I changed my life to suit your needs
Tried to embrace your god as well
You tell me my soul is still condemned
Well, if you’re right, baby, I choose hell!
’Cause your god’s not good enough, that’s what it comes down to!
Your god’s not good enough for me to bow down to!
You see, I’m strong enough. I don’t need him to make through!
And he’s not good enough for me, and he’s not good enough for you!
And I would have done anything for you, my own soul, betrayed
Well now I’ve got my own heart to lead me
And you’ve got your own soul to save
And I am good enough. That’s what it comes down to.
I am good enough. It’s time I see the truth,
See I’m strong enough. I don’t need you to make through!
And I am good enough for me if I’m not good enough for you!
Cross different waters, this goes too deep.
Avatar
(instrumental)
Home Home
You are a home to me
As the wind’s at home in the trees
You’re my family
You make me happy
When I feel alone
And my dreams have been overthrown
I think back on my home
You can fulfill me
’Cause life’s not always kind
And I know you feel it too..
If only I could shield you from what darkness may haunt you
Let me be your home
So when you feel overthrown
Don’t endure it alone
I will be there for you
You are a home to me
As the wind’s at home in the trees
You’re my family
Just thought I’d say thank you.
The Crowd
She thinks she’s done the right thing
But she don’t know what lies ahead
It’s a world where you say only that which has been said
She thinks she’s joined the cool ones
With pretty smiles and batting eyes
Soon enough she’ll give in, lose herself to that disguise
She’ll sell her soul for the crowd
For that’s the way of the crowd
To lose your soul to the crowd
All she wants is to belong here
Give up her voice so to be heard
Like the rest, all afraid to be known beyond their words
In this world of allegations
We’re boxed away before we’re dead
If we live by the day, tell me, what can lie ahead?
We sell our souls for the crowd
For that’s the way of the crowd
To lose your soul to the crowd
Ooo
Don’t lose your soul to the crowd
Don’t sell your soul for the crowd
Don’t lose your soul to the crowd