This is another one that was first recorded back in 1991 for Watercolor Monster. As tempting as it is to try and tease some meaning out of these lyrics, the simple fact is that it’s not intended to actually mean anything at all.
Is it possible that my subconscious mind has actually pieced together something very profound without my conscious knowledge? Sure. Why not? In fact, I’ve done that to myself on more than a few occasions. I’ll write a song, not think much about it, and then fifteen years later I’ll look back and say “HEY! So THAT’S what I meant by that!”
But that’s not very likely in this case. So go ahead and come up with your own theories and let me know what they are. Perhaps you will enlighten me further. In the meantime, I can at least help you with a little vocabulary.
"Busking" is playing music in the street for money. I did a lot of busking at Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, VT in the mid- to late-1990’s, but I hadn’t done that yet when I wrote this song. Guess I just liked the sound of the word.
"Feta" is a brined sheep’s milk cheese that originated in Greece. Stinky and wonderful crumbled in salads.
"Natchitoches" (pronounced NACK-uh-tish) is a town in Central Louisiana. It is home to the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts and Northwestern State University, and I’ve spent a total of 8 years doing various educational things at those fine institutions. Natchitoches was also the hometown of Robert Harling when he wrote Steel Magnolias, and they filmed the movie there too. The Christmas Festival depicted in the film is a real, annual event, but they faked it for the movie and restaged it in the middle of the summer of 1986, if memory serves.
I also recall that the release of Steel Magnolias was on or around the day that the Berlin Wall fell. These two events do not actually have a lot to do with each other, but they are connected in my head because that’s when Dolly Parton came to town.
lyrics
If no one was to listen and nothing was to break
My innocent remark would count as quite a big mistake
I’ve never been to Normandy although I’ve climbed a tree
And I’ve never called you anything but ‘she’
The titles in my library are really too obscure
But the undertow is grinning as a wave breaks through the shore
If Malcolm is a lighthouse keeper, I’m a drunken fish
From the Philippines en route to Natchitoches
And the days drag on like hours and the years plod on like seconds
As a girl I don’t know beckons from the inside of the sky
For I’ve never felt so frazzled* or so rhythmically distracted
As my patience is refracted in a haze of when and why
St. Patrick’s Day was frozen through a magnifying glass
But it’s all been torn to ribbons by a diplomat on grass
And the altar boys are busking in a new sidewalk café
With their cocoa butter soaking up the hay
Do the raindrops seem to tremble at a glance from Katmandu
With a pocket full of promises and a bucket full of shoes?
Though I see the lifeguard drowning, he’s talking out of key
To a fellow with a bureaucrats degree
And the days drag on like hours and the years plod on like seconds
As a girl I don’t know beckons from the inside of the sky
Though I’ve never seen a compass made from leftover tattoos
I would love to watch you use one in the bitter by and by
Is that Nancy in the window?
Is she eating feta cheese?
Cuz the rats are watching Jeopardy and falling on their knees
As the gas truck hits a racetrack and begins to pick up speed
All the congressmen have voted to proceed
No, you can’t just sit there, stupid, no, you have to grab a shoe
Cuz the rats are getting restless and there’s so much you can do
Be the hero, be the villain, be the one that got away
Nothing comes from nothing gained, I always say
And the days drag on like hours and the years plod on like seconds
As a girl I don’t know beckons from the inside of the sky
And the occupants are joining forces, praying to the dishes
And their words are mean and vicious and they will not wear a tie
And the days drag on like hours and the years plod on like seconds
As a girl I don’t know beckons from the inside of the sky
For I’ve never felt so frazzled or so rhythmically distracted
As my patience is refracted in the bitter by and by
If you have a fondness for expertly wrought roots-rock with sharp lyrics and aching vocals, look no further—“Strangers” is for you. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 8, 2022
Tom Heyman documents life in San Francisco circa 2023, refusing to succumb to easy characterization & instead capturing the city’s nuance. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 22, 2023
A collection of short stories set to music, the latest from Dave Perkins pairs evocative writing with rustic Americana arrangements. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 17, 2023
“Write The Soil Lighter” is full of beguilingly mysterious folk-adjacent music, shrouded in shadow and atmospherics. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 30, 2023
