the new song

This song -- again -- comes directly from my wife.

After we met in Guatemala (Aldus Dreams), she and I spent about six months learning each other over the internet and then, in a remarkably ballsy move (she prefers the term 'out of character') she ventured out from California to New York, where I was wrapping up a second stint with an investment bank.

The stories are too many to bore you with, but we spent a week in Virginia camping out with a number of my old college buddies and their girlfriends (Virginia Woods). It was quite the scene.

We parted ways for another few months and saw each other just once more before this wonderful woman committed to something I can't say I would have had the fortitude (read: balls) to do. She up and moved to Syracuse, New York, where I was in my second semester of grad school. She'll tell you she went there to finish college at SUNY ESF, and that is true, but also true (one might argue more true) is the fact that it was no coincidence that I was in that very city.

So there we are, trying to figure out just how strong of legs this fledgling relationship would have to stand on, exploring all aspects of each other. And truth be told, it wasn't easy. There are a lot of things you don't get to know about a person when all you have to go on is email. And unfortunately for her, I confess that when it comes to who would change more, the answer points squarely at me. Which you might say is a good thing, and I would agree with that. But consider, it also means that I had the farthest to go. The headaches I brought on were many.

But those were good days on the balance. And the New Song was birthed from my total awe of the woman. The fact she held me completely was something I'd never experienced before. And I remember vividly seeing her in a Syracuse bar, making her way from the bar itself, to the very back of the place where our friends had a table, and the way in which she moved was simply beautiful.

She floated. I think literally. Her hips swaying in a perplexing combination of innocence and seduction that gave her the appearance of floating through the crowd. And it's this image, which is burned into my mind, that gave me the chorus...

"the way you make your way to the back of the bar is what moves me to play this guitar for you"...

The whole song is built around this image.

As for the name ... I've got nothing to say except, sorry. At one less than creative time in my life, it was the most recent, hence the new, song on my set list. And apparently, it was that way long enough that the name stuck.

Actually, there is some irony here. The chords (again, only two of them) were shown to me by a great friend in Costa Rica. A grisly old fucker named Mike Woodknot (Mike, if you stumble on this sight, reach out!). He took me from a shy no-nuttin' on guitar to a not-so-shy no-nuttin'. And as many who've had to get comfortable on stage know, in can be that that's no small feat.

But, back to the irony. It just so happens that while I've been playing the New Song for about 5 years now, i've been noodline with the chords and the idea as long as i've been a remotely serious singer/songwriter. Weird, huh?

- lyrics -