This month I've had the fine privilege of connecting and reconnecting with old friends and family, of reliving history and making new memories. It has been a lovely feeling being with people who know all the old jokes and secrets, and whose years in my life I lack the fingers (and in some cases the toes) to count. Those who know me well probably know that I can't count too much higher than the number of my fingers and toes anyhow.
These visits have been solo excursions for me, without the company of Rebecca, and that has been a bit sad for both of us. While we enjoyed one weekend away together recently, she missed out on the group activities because of school and other obligations. I felt her absence a great deal, so while this song deals in the rekindling of memory that happens when people reconvene, it also has a lonesome note of longing. The recording is a bit rough, but it's all there.
~M.E.
P.S. Today is the 15th anniversary of the death by apparent suicide of the great Elliott Smith. His songs are all precious treasures, and I'm so glad he lived. For me it's also the 15th anniversary of my first real exposure to his work. It was my first semester of college, and I wasn't yet cool enough to know much of anything about him. He is in all of these songs. He's been in every song I've made since this day 15 years ago.
lyrics
I've got an old song to sing
One that blows like the wind
To fill up my wings
I've got some old words to share
Words that stuck to my skin
Like smoke in the air
I've found an old photograph
The kind that makes you cry
Just as soon as you laugh
And I'll wear my old pair of shoes
'Cause that's the pair I can count on
To walk back to you
To walk back to you