The Song We Never Wrote

The Song We Never Wrote

We jumped in the Jeep and left town
It was tough to take the top down
We hit highway 57 like a buck and wing
The lazy sun was setting
All our cares we were forgetting
500 miles and change to the city of the king

Well, we only had one more hour
When the skies began to shower
Kissing in the southern rain made my knees get weak
We thanked the barkeep that saved us
And the Graceland gods that gave us
Sweet Memphis blues to sway to cheek to cheek

Oh, my, my
I cannot tell a lie
But these words have a hard time coming out of my throat
Oh, well, well
It’s a story I had to tell
I just thought I’d write the song we never wrote

On a day I’ll always remember
We got married in September
The leaves on your bare feet just made me cry
You sang, I played guitar
Mahal kita*
You danced with your Umali, and I with Sky

We flew off to take a
Honeymoon down in Jamaica
We swore by the reggae beat we would never part
To our bungalow we go
To turn our lights down low
And make ourselves at home under the island stars

Oh, my, my
I cannot tell a lie
But these words have a hard time coming out of my throat
Oh, well, well
It’s a story I had to tell
I just thought I’d write the song we never wrote

It weren’t no dilemma
Of course we named her Emma
She’s smiling with my grin, playing with your hands
We clap and coo and curl
Around our baby girl
We’ll fill her days with love and do the best we can

This song is yours to keep
I guess it just put you to sleep
I’ll carry you upstairs; you just keep snoring
I’ll kiss you on your head
And tuck you into bed
Good night, my love, sleep tight; see you in the morning

Oh, my, my
I cannot tell a lie
These words have a hard time coming out of my throat
Oh, well, well
It’s a story I had to tell
I just thought I’d write the song we never wrote
The song we never wrote
The song we never wrote

* I love you (translated from Tagalog)

Brown Woman

Brown Woman

Mm, your kisses taste like home to me
And your smile is like a sweet island song
Mm, we’re moving in harmony
In this tropical rhythm is where I belong

And now I know why all the white girls didn’t seem right
Now I know why I’m gonna sleep good tonight
Now I know why

Brown woman give a brown man wings
Brown woman strum a brown man’s strings
Ease my suffering
Hear this brown man sing
Brown woman’s where a brown man’s from
A brown woman calling make a brown man come
Sweeter than honey rum
Brown woman, brown woman

Mm, your love is like a summer breeze
Through the mango trees on an island shore
Mm, your skin gets me drunk just as well
As a bottle of San Miguel, let me drink some more

And now I know why all those white girls didn’t seem right
Now I know why I’m gonna sleep good tonight
Now I know why

Brown woman give a brown man wings
Brown woman strum a brown man’s strings
Ease my suffering
Hear this brown man sing
Brown woman’s where a brown man’s from
A brown woman calling make a brown man come
Sweeter than honey rum
Brown woman, brown woman

Like a summer breeze through the mango trees
You love me sweet and slow
Like a slow jam sung in our island tongue
You move me down below
When you’re not beside me baby
When you’re gone and I’m alone
Umiiyak, umiiyak, ang puso ko*

Brown woman give a brown man wings
Brown woman strum a brown man’s strings
Ease my suffering, please
Brown woman’s where a brown man’s from
A brown woman calling make a brown man come
Sweeter than honey rum
Brown woman, brown woman

* My heart cries (translated from Tagalog)

I Wish I Was Your Whiskey (Sweet Perdita)

I Wish I Was Your Whiskey

Every Monday night
And every other Wednesday
Sweet Perdita gently breaks my heart

And I pour her drinks for free
And hope the boss don’t see me
But when sweet Perdita’s singing, I ain’t so smart.

She takes one shot of Jack
For every love song
That I dream she sings for me alone
She needs two shots of Beam
In between her covers of Nina Simone

O I wish I was your whiskey
‘Cause I can ease your pain
I’d cheer your ass up
Before you put down the cup
And if you fuck up
I’ll take the blame

I wish I was your whiskey
Ain’t nothing that I’d rather be
Honey, I’ll keep you warm
Through this cold winter storm
And you can drown all your sorrows in me

Every lonesome strum
Every limb goes numb
My feet uneasily hovering above the floor

Through these tears I see
She don’t sing for me
It’s those hopeless dreams I was hoping to ignore

She needs one shot of Black
Johnnie Walker
For every sad song she croons
And it’s Maker’s Mark
To harden her heart before she can belt out the blues

O I wish I was your whiskey
‘Cause I can ease your pain
I’d cheer your ass up
Before you put down the cup
And if you fuck up
I’ll take the blame

I wish I was your whiskey
Ain’t nothing that I’d rather be
Honey, I’ll keep you warm
Through this cold winter storm
And you can drown all your sorrows in me

Everybody knows
That every bar must close
Bleary-eyed and busted, I give last call

As her final tune
Leaves this old saloon
So does sweet Perdita pass these walls

And it’s old Wild Turkey
For the barkeep
As the regulars file down the stairs
I’m drinking Bushmills
‘Til I get the will
To confess to her empty chair

O I wish I was your whiskey
‘Cause I can ease your pain
I’d cheer your ass up
Before you put down the cup
And if you fuck up
I’ll take the blame

I wish I was your whiskey
Ain’t nothing that I’d rather be
Honey, I’ll keep you warm
Through this cold winter storm
And you can drown all your sorrows in me

fine

I've been running since I fell down
trying to make my way in this damn town
if I thought that you wanted me around
I'd feel fine, fine, fine
baby I'd feel fine

I've yelled at the top of so many stairs
resisted the urge to throw so many chairs
if I dared to think that you could care
I'd feel fine, fine, fine
baby I'd feel fine

one flew east & one flew west
and one more shot will put us to the test
and one more shot after that
Maybe we'll feel fine, fine, fine
maybe we'll feel fine

I've written pages about how it begins
and it seems like ages since I've let anyone in
but when you walk my way with a swagger & a grin
I feel fine, fine, fine
baby I feel fine

I wrote this sometime this week. Emphasis on the chorus: I feel fine.

telling stories

peter was a lost boy
who thought that he could fly
but he kept wendy's thimble
til the day that he died

wendy was a child
who took all that she could
and peter would if she would
but he never would

chorus
we're just telling stories
before we say goodnight
we want a happy ending
before we're tucked in tight
some are tragic ballads
some have epic themes
and the farce disguised as romance
will haunt our dreams

alice was a rover
who couldn't stand still
no one's ever held her
and no one ever will

the white knight was a fool
who thought that she would fall
he thought she found him charming
but she didn't think that way at all

*chorus*

I am just a rambler
a storyteller by trade
and you are a character
I didn't realize that I'd made

I thought that you would ease me
I thought you would be true
but in the end it turned out
there was no such man as you

I was just telling stories
before I said goodnight
I wanted a happy ending
before we were tucked in tight
some were tragic ballads
and some had epic themes
but it's the farce disguised as romance
that haunts my dreams

03.08.2006.

Nancy and her "food obsessions" :>)

I believe I have already posted a lyric, which contained a line that sounded like "my ketchup's on the windowsill". At least to Nancy's ear. (The line was actually "my cat jumps on the windowsill"). She recently asked me about a line that she thought sounded like "settling into the hot plate". You can see for yourself what the lyric actually is below.

Lest you think I'm mocking her, be advised that I am the King of Lyrical Confusion, and spent years believing that Jimi Hendrix actually sang, "Excuse me while I kiss this guy".

MIRAGE

Can’t you just see her in velvet
tiara of four half-moons
Servants on call at her bedside
ruling a torch-lit room

But she would never believe it
The left brain always wins
And I thank God I can see it in my dreams

Can’t you just see her in soft robes
wandering through the sand
Lookin’ for wine from the water
swearin’ that someone can

But she would never believe it
The bad guys always win
And I thank God I can see it in my dreams

She would never believe it
The lawyers always win
And I thank God I can see it in my dreams

Can’t you just see her in bearskin
tending an early fire
Settling into the high plains
leading a full moon choir

But she would never believe it
The left brain always wins
And I thank God I can see it in my dreams.

(C)DaveDonovan2001