Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Sweet Pretenses

No decent recording of this yet, though at a ruinous 6/8 it reminds me of "Satellite," by Elvis Costello (the one he sings with the help of Chrissie Hynde on "Spike"). I started off calling it "Nothing Much In It," but that was before I stumbled on the last, apt phrase. Because I'm so wordy, I'm toying with plopping "Nothing Much In It" as a sub-head, not that it matters, but then these days ALL modern works of fiction (or non-fiction; or semi-fiction; or duplicitous truth) call for an explanatory sub-head...we'll see.
Dunno if it's going to be a Late Joys song yet, as it's rather delicate. But if I swing that gig in Southern California in March you can bet I'll give this a troubadour's best effort! Here are the lyrics:

There’s nothing much in it between love and disaster
Was it only beginning? Was it all in the past?
In less than a minute, in one or two sentences
You’re at your limit; you’ve dropped your defenses

Did you get what you wanted? A little more clarity
Were you better not knowing? Had you taught yourself not to see?
How could you have missed it, all of the evidence?
Oh what a gift if you’d never come to your senses

You jog on the treadmill, push the cart up another aisle
It’s a matter of inches but it feels like a million miles
You’re second guessing your second guesses
It felt much better when they were all sweet pretenses

There’s nothing much in it between truth and denial
It’s a matter of inches but it feels like a million miles
You’re second guessing your second guesses
It feels much better when they’re all sweet pretenses

Update: Got the gig in SoCal. E Street Cafe. 3/15/2010. More anon.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    I really like the classical and modernist imagery of "...push the cart up another aisle." Brilliant, mate.

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  2. Robi PolgarJanuary 28, 2014 at 1:33 PM

    UPDATE 1/28/2014 ("Ice Day" = time to surf the distant pass, what can I say?)

    Not dissimilar to My Brain At Work (http://robbledegook.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-brain-at-work.html). I revised the last lines of the third and fourth verses of Sweet Pretenses after this went to print. Same issues: the insipidness of "It feels much better" -- gah, I published that and the need for a real (better) rhyme. I found that better rhyme and a much more intriguing finale with this:

    You’re second guessing your second guesses
    It's just window dressing and those sweet pretenses

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