hotel walls so thin... like the set from a theatre stage...
conversation so stilted and stiff...
through the drapes... a piece of a small town sky
I'm tongue-tied and tempted to quit
what remains to be said... is just the heart of the matter
the blossom won'r bloom ... in one afternoon
and it's surely the essence I'm after
though I'm hurting... and it all seems so soon
...
I walked by myself... and I tried to understand...
I stayed gone for nearly a year
high and dry...and still lacking the sand
to accept things as they might appear...
and leave it all... for the heart of the matter
lay down one's wings for a while
let the chill winds come and scatter
all your plans, pleased to sing for a smile.
...
now they'll all say... that your time spent in limbo
is surely the sweet side of hell...
and pushed to the point of confession
I'll contend that I've had my fill
could she not see through... t the heart of the matter
how my love was strong and true
that anything less sure would shatter
all the plans that we'd made... just we two.
...
...well... this s definitely an old lyric... the title came to me while writing a letter to Ian Tamblyn this weekend past; and as so often with songs (not just mine own), remembering the title will trigger the lyric in it's entirety. This little song brings back fond memories of people and places that figured strongly in my early days playing the bars in small towns, still finding the romance in dingy hotel rooms and the furtive attempts at seduction that still seem 'stilted and stiff' all these years later. I think this is the complete lyric, though it has never been recorded; and I was 'reaching' for the third verse. With Valentine's Day just passed, love and the past have figured in my thoughts. A lot of years singing 'love songs' and writing not a few myself... one has to wonder what has been learned... and yet I still sign off a letter with 'love, d.' or a post with 'love to all, d.' ... and I guess I've learned a little, and am thankfl for the love that is in my life; and the chance to learn a little more... love to all, d.