Story Behind The Song

I was a bartender for years in a town that, like much of middle class America, has found it's economy dying, and it's people struggling. As a bartender, you hear a great deal of stories, some tragic, some uplifting, some just drunken babble. All of the lives I got to know over a few short years bear striking similarities in that they all seem to have their regrets, disappointments, and residual dreams. I felt like I wanted all of these people who have come and gone to know that they are not alone in the way that they feel. By juxtaposing their individual experiences and aspirations, it became obvious to me that the human experience if fundamentally shared in spite of our individuality and isolation. Sometimes sharing a drink is all it takes to remember, and all it takes to forget.

Song Description

Instrumentation includes the lyrical vocal, guitars, keys, bass, and drums. They shape the 'storyteller' vibe of the song by dynamic motion and complementary arrangement. It begins by talking about the dreams we all set out to persue, and through the specifics of people and places, shows the listener how we can all be led off track, and into the harsh realities of adulthood. It is a collection of snapshots that we can all relate to.

Lyrics

Chapters

We set out to make our fame and fortune,
Save the world along the way,
But no one told me that my dreams were mortal.
I wanted just to hear you play,
To hear you play.
I always had a soft spot for women
Who could sing away the night.
Something happens in your heart if you listen
That makes your troubles seem alright
And they seem alright.

Chorus
So tonight we can share this shelter
And build a slow burning fire out on the side
I would gladly trade this wine
For a chapter of your tale cause lord knows
I?ve had enough of mine
I?ll take a piece of you with me
Until the end of time

Verse2


I was with my buddy Niel in his kitchen.
We shed our dreams and became men.
Then he said,
?If I could set foot on the trail head in Georgia,
I would not rest until the end.?
Until the end
But these are thoughts we keep in master bedroom closets
To keep the job, the wife, the kid
And I have nothing but respect for him
Cause that?s one thing I never did
I never did

So I told him about the Appalachian mountains.
We flicked our ashes in the sink.
It?s a lot like any other trail you walk down,
It?s so much longer than you think.
And I still think

CHORUS


I was tending bar up in this local dive,
And she?d come in and drink a few
She was caught up in this ten year conversation
Between Kerouac and Bukowski too.
She said,
?I know you don?t remember me baby,
But I sure remember you.
I gained some weight and they stopped calling me Susie,
These days it?s mostly just Sue.?

She said I was just too young to understand her,
As if I?d never dug a hole.
The kind you desperately claw your way out of
Before it swallows up your soul.
I heard she went out to the islands with her trouble
To feel the earth without her shoes.
But you can never really outrun your troubles
So that?s when I learned to sing the blues
I still sing the blues

CHORUS