This one was really about my deciding not to go to a class reunion, though my Dad has always been very supportive of my music! It's funny...I wasn't playing music professionally when I wrote this, and now that I am I feel it in the exact same way.
I'd done it once before on "Real Still Life," an album that I had printed but outgrew. That version had a vastly different arrangement and was in a key I couldn't sing very well, even at the time. There's no kick drum on this song. Floorboards, man. Floorboards.
lyrics
I was talking to a girl from back at school the other day
She said our class reunion's coming up
It was the damndest thing; I couldn't think what I was going to wear
Should I go, so I stayed home
I could play by what they'd want for me and wear myself a suit
I bought one, after all, when I loved money
Or wear cutoffs and flip-flops, and flash the double-deuce at what they think
Why do I gotta say anything at all?
I said "Hey man, I just wanted to get it a little better"
There's more to life than money and talkin' 'bout the weather
I just can't think of nothing that I'd like to do forever
How 'bout you?
Are you happy living life the way you do?
Last night, my dad said I don't try at life; I should get myself a job
I said "I got a job; I sing and play guitar."
I took the 20 that he gave me and left his advice behind
I got all that I need to get me by
I said "Hey man, I just wanted to get it a little better"
There's more to life than money and talkin' 'bout the weather
I just can't think of nothing that I'd like to do forever
How 'bout you?
Are you happy living life the way you do?
I make my music just for me in a room I rent myself
I wake up each new day and do nothing that I hate
Except not having money, but that's a price you pay
And you pay a price for everything these days
I said "Hey man, I just wanted to get it a little better"
There's more to life than money and talkin' 'bout the weather
I just can't think of nothing that I'd like to do forever
How 'bout you?
Are you happy living life the way you do?
credits
from Soon,
released June 1, 2018
Nelson Wood: Dobro
Dale Wicks: Everything Else
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