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Wrote this one for the wife. We’re both quite fond of the scratched out first draft, dated August 14, 2001.It was eventually recorded 3 years later and released on The Year of Longing Dangerously.

By the way, this post finally completes the collection of Year lyrics on this site. Search for the album title to see them all.

If I could freeze this moment in time,
Then I would sweep the clouds from the sky for you.
You deserve the brightest of sunny days,
The warmth of the sun’s embrace.
The comforting breeze that sails through the trees
Blows softly and sweetly for you.
Sunshine feels so good on my face —
A lifeline keeping me here in this place.
All of my doubts and fears melt away
In the warmth of the sun’s embrace.
My lonely heart sings with all the thousand things
I’d do in a second for you.
I’d bring you the head of the man in the moon on a plate.
I’d pile the world’s gold till the earth caved in under the weight.
Whatever you wanted, I’d get it – no price is too great
For you.
Never before have I wanted you more than right now.
High on this feeling I’m scraping the ceiling,
I’m weightless somehow.
Give me as much of your touch as my heart will allow.
All I have is for you.

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The ramblings that became this song, the eighth cut on The Year of Longing Dangerously, were penned after a drunken strike-out in a hotel somewhere. Like a banquet server is going to come back to a guest’s room, anyway.

The minutes drag and disappear…
Lover I’m waiting. Why aren’t you here?
The clock ticks out my solitude…
Every second another year.
The bottles line up one by one.
Lover I’m waiting. What have I done?
My heart beats out an hollow sound.
The sound of my dreams come undone.
I count the hours.
I watch the time crawl.
I sit up nights and I drink till sunrise,
Staring at the walls.
You said I’d be a wreck without you,
But I’m going to be just fine.
I’ll keep myself together
As long as I can keep myself in wine.
The night bleeds slowly into dawn.
Lover I’m waiting… Where have you gone?

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I’ve been trying to write this one for a couple of months now. I’ve had the concept and a couple of lines since watching the final episode of Californication, but I’ve been stuck.

And now, here it is. I like it so much it could make the next record.

Do you take this man for better? For worse?
From the start to the end? Honeymoon to hearse?
Do you take this man
Or do you take me?

Do you take this man for richer? For poorer?
Are you sure of his feelings, or could you be surer?
Do you take this man
Or do you take me?

I don’t want to spoil the wedding.
I don’t want to trump the priest.
But he said “speak now”
So I’ve gotta speak now
‘Cause I’ve never known how to hold my peace

Do you take this man in sickness, in wellness?
In newlywed bliss? In sheer living hell-ness?
Do you take this man
Or do you take me?

I know my timing could be better
I know clichés are such a bore
But he said speak now
So I’ve gotta speak now
Before you make that vow I need a second more…

Do you take this man to honor and obey?
To tell him through clenched teeth that you’ll always love him
   though your heart’s gone astray?
Do you take this man
Or do you take me?

Take a breath and face the fear
Take yourself away from here
Take a chance on me my dear and say you
Take me

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My crack at “Just My Imagination” by the Temptations, this little nugget from The Year of Longing Dangerously was written as an angry song about a neighbor who consistently ignored me when I would say hello.And we’re talking complete silence.”Hello.”

“——.”

Bizarre.

You don’t even know my name,
But I’m smitten just the same.
I have seen you from afar.
You don’t know me, but I know who you are.

I could make you happy dear,
But you don’t even know I’m here.
I could answer all your prayers
If you would only walk up a flight of stairs.

I dream some day we’ll have a life:
A country husband and his country wife.
When we’re wed we’ll buy a farm
And walk the pastures arm in arm…

We’ll have chickens and a rooster too,
A couple of hounds and a horse or two,
A couple of cows and a couple of sheep,
And a couple of kids to sing to sleep.

You pass by me every day.
I struggle for words to say.
Some day my tongue won’t be so tied…
You don’t know me, but you will by and by.

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OK, so earlier in the week I complained about people who say they write songs in 10 minutes, but this one from The Year of Longing Dangerously didn’t take much longer than that, actually. It pretty much fell out like the baby in that scene in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.Welcome to the world little song. Now shut up.

Incidentally, the song originally had a bridge that went “When does a child learn the careful touch? / When is he taught not to try for much?”

The lines provided the title of the song, but when I sang them I found they got in the way of the trumpet solo. Welcome to heaven, little lyrics.

Now shut up.

If I could stop making unsafe bets,
I could live without regrets
But taking chances appeals to me.
I like how danger feels to me.
I’d rather deal with what life deals to me.

If I could just stop being bold,
I could comfortably grow old
But I’ve seen the cautious and how they pray.
I can’t abide by the games they play.
I’d rather let the chips fall where they may.

They say it’s crazy to want that girl,
But it’s so crazy I just might give it a whirl.
I can’t be safe for safety’s sake.
She’s a chance I’m willing to take.
She’s a bet that I’m ready to make.

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“Cards and Letters” started out as a duet for The Year of Longing Dangerously, but Ali Bartlett, who was supposed to sing on it with me, turned her nose up at a “corny” country two-hander.In frustration I went back and wrote myself some more verses.

(Best thing that happened to the record.)

I hope this letter finds you well
Because talking to you is hell.
I try to string three words together but I d-d-dry up.
I guess I’m lucky I can spell.

I’ll let this card show you my heart
Because I don’t know how to start.
I want to pitch the woo but next to you I f-f-freeze up.
I’m scared I’ll shake myself apart.

It hurts to go to bed alone.
I want you with me but I can’t pick up the telephone.
So until I find a way to t-t-talk to you better,
I’ll send a card, I’ll write a letter.

It’s so hard to communicate.
That’s why cards and letters are great.
With pen and paper there’s no chance that I’ll just c-c-clam up.
Face-to-face seems second-rate.

It hurts to go to bed alone.
I want you with me but I can’t pick up the telephone.
So until I find a way to t-t-talk to you better,
I’ll send a card, I’ll write a letter.

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The intial lines that became this song on The Year of Longing Dangerously were written way back in 2000, I think, when a girl and I (where are you, Brett Tiller?) went to extreme lengths to reassure each other that we weren’t in love.Started out funny, turned sad, then got changed from “I don’t love you” at the last minute. I always knew, though, that it had to be jazz.

I don’t love her.
I’ve cleaned my heart right out.
I don’t think of her
When I turn the light out.
Once, when she first had gone,
I might have done so.
But now, now I have moved on
And I’m having fun, so!

Wait a minute…

What’s the act for?
Who am I trying to kid?
I want her back more
Than I ever did.
Yes, my heart breaks,
But I made mistakes
And now I can’t have her.
So that’s why I lie,
Pretending that I…
Don’t love her.

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This song, the third on The Year of Longing Dangerously, was one of my favorites until I accidentally wrote the last line. Then it became my favorite ever.By the way, it started out as “Hey radio/ Hey telephone/ Hey suicide”. I have a wildly different demo recorded with those lyrics and a slower, more insistent rhythm. When I start posting more audio next month I’ll put it up.

Hey beautiful, what you trying to do?
Make me sad and lonely, break my heart in two?
When I’m lost in your gaze I long for the haze
That hung around my head in the halcyon days.
Hey beautiful, what you trying to do?

Hey beautiful, why you looking like that?
Turn me inside out with a grin like a storybook cat.
You got a smile like a crocodile…
Makes me feel things I ain’t felt in a while.
Hey beautiful, why you looking like that?

How could there be anyone else?
Everyone else is just someone else.
How could there be anyone else?
Everyone else is just someone else.

Hey beautiful, want you to help me forget.
I done a lot of crying but I don’t think I’m finished yet.
I miss her lips and her fingertips
And the way that she looked with my hands on her hips.
Hey beautiful, want you to help me forget.
Hey beautiful, want you to help me forget.
Hey beautiful, your money’s on the table by the bed.

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OK, this week’s project is getting the rest of the lyrics up for The Year of Longing Dangerously, the concept record or song cycle or whatever you want to call it I released in 2004.

Over the next five or six days you’ll see 8 slices of unrequited love. Hide the sharp objects.

Anyway, this one, is as simple as it is, proved almost impossible to write.

Blah the blah. Blah the blah. Do you know how hard it was to write this P.O.S. and not repeat anything?

Don’t believe anyone who says they wrote a song in 10 minutes.

Make some toast. Read the news. Comb my hair. Shine my shoes.
Brush my teeth. Press my pants. Walk the dog. Water the plants.
These days I’d do anything to keep my mind off of you….
I’m trying to be too busy to be blue.
Call my mom. Make some tea. Skim a book. Watch TV.
Learn some french. Fix the car. Move the couch. Wish on a star.
These days I’d do anything to keep my mind off of you….
I’m trying to be too busy to be blue.
When I lost your heart I lost my motivation.
Now I try to lose myself in procrastination.
Feed the fish. Pay the bills. Cry a bit. Take some pills.
Go to bed. Sleep too long. Wake up late. Write you this song.
These days I’d do anything to keep my mind off of you….
I’m trying to be too busy to be blue.

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At first the two versions of “You Should Be With Me” on The Year of Longing Dangerously competed with each other. I kept trying to rewrite them so only one said the title. Then one day I put on Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) at the right time and the rest is, as they say, history. Or histrionics. Or something.

Things are looking pretty bleak.
I don’t know how I’m going to cope.
I wonder if I’ll last the week.
I’m trying not to but I’m losing hope.
Let’s not call it quits…
We’ve got something we can save.
I’m so lonely I’m having fits.
I know you swore you’d never cave,
But on my mother’s grave,
I promise I’ll behave.

You should be with me. You should be with me.
You should be with me. You should be with me.

Things are looking pretty grim.
I see dark clouds overhead.
I don’t know what you see in him,
But can’t you see the same in me instead?
Give me time to show
I can be the better guy.
You said your patience is running low,
But cross my heart and hope to die,
Stick a needle in my eye,
I promise that I’ll try.

You should be with me. You should be with me.
You should be with me. You should be with me.

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