| The Ballad of Laura Delaney |
We were parked on the gravel past the end of the track
Me and Laura Delaney in my Pontiac
The music on the radio was playing low
I got a little jealous and I let it show
Her gaze turned distant and I asked her why
I worried she was thinking ‘bout some other guy
She said I was wrong and it made me mad
It wasn’t the worst fight we ever had
But she told me it was over and my face went slack
She stepped out of the car and she never looked back
And I'll never forgive that old deejay -
He was playing our song as she walked away
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
Me and Laura grew up pretty poor
Played all day at her house next door
Some times were happy and some were sad
Sometimes each other was all we had
I hit a little streak where my luck turned sour
Mama called it ‘our darkest hour’
The bills piled up but Daddy was gone -
She worked from noon until the break of dawn
And I was all alone, trying to cope
Running from trouble without much hope
I never would have made it past the age of nine
But Laura Delaney was a friend of mine
Her daddy got promoted and she moved away
It split us apart but I knew someday
I would find her again if I had the chance -
It was six years later at a Legion dance
She looked like an angel walking through the door
It was like old times until we hit the floor
I felt the current flowing though her finger tips
I looked in her eyes and I kissed her lips
It was a beautiful beginning to an ugly end -
The worst thing I’ve ever done to a friend
‘Cause I was wild and reckless, I was young and green -
I did a lot of damage in-between
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
I had some steam to blow, so I started my car
Flashed a fake ID at a cross town bar
I slunk into that joint just like a sewer rat
The bartender eyed me like an alley cat
I sat down on a stool and he started to pour
Finished off a bottle and I pointed for more
He said “Son, I’ve learned to read people pretty well -
You look like a man with a story to tell.”
Then he stepped back and he waited for the changing tide
I drank another shot and felt the whisky slide
I opened up my mouth just like a water spout
And he listened to the words come pouring out
I told him ‘bout Laura and what happened that night
Every time I saw her it would end in a fight
It wasn’t her fault - she was sweet and kind
But loving her drove me to lose my mind
I tried so hard to do her good -
It hurt so bad that I never could
I heard my future every time she spoke
And I watched it all go up in smoke
I filled his ears with my tale of woe
He said, “Women will come, boy, and women will go -
There’s a dozen in this room that would love you fine”
I said, “Laura Delaney was a friend of mine”
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
Life goes on - I put it all behind
Fell in love and married a couple of times
And I tried to believe that what I felt was real
But there’s scars inside even time won’t heal
My vanity tells me there’s still a place
Deep in her heart where she sees my face
And I’ll never look where she might be found
But I’m always here in case she comes around
Wasting time with women half my age
Most of the time I’m just half-engaged
‘Cause the thought that’s always in my mind
Is that friends like Laura are hard to find
Me and Laura Delaney in my Pontiac
The music on the radio was playing low
I got a little jealous and I let it show
Her gaze turned distant and I asked her why
I worried she was thinking ‘bout some other guy
She said I was wrong and it made me mad
It wasn’t the worst fight we ever had
But she told me it was over and my face went slack
She stepped out of the car and she never looked back
And I'll never forgive that old deejay -
He was playing our song as she walked away
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
Me and Laura grew up pretty poor
Played all day at her house next door
Some times were happy and some were sad
Sometimes each other was all we had
I hit a little streak where my luck turned sour
Mama called it ‘our darkest hour’
The bills piled up but Daddy was gone -
She worked from noon until the break of dawn
And I was all alone, trying to cope
Running from trouble without much hope
I never would have made it past the age of nine
But Laura Delaney was a friend of mine
Her daddy got promoted and she moved away
It split us apart but I knew someday
I would find her again if I had the chance -
It was six years later at a Legion dance
She looked like an angel walking through the door
It was like old times until we hit the floor
I felt the current flowing though her finger tips
I looked in her eyes and I kissed her lips
It was a beautiful beginning to an ugly end -
The worst thing I’ve ever done to a friend
‘Cause I was wild and reckless, I was young and green -
I did a lot of damage in-between
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
I had some steam to blow, so I started my car
Flashed a fake ID at a cross town bar
I slunk into that joint just like a sewer rat
The bartender eyed me like an alley cat
I sat down on a stool and he started to pour
Finished off a bottle and I pointed for more
He said “Son, I’ve learned to read people pretty well -
You look like a man with a story to tell.”
Then he stepped back and he waited for the changing tide
I drank another shot and felt the whisky slide
I opened up my mouth just like a water spout
And he listened to the words come pouring out
I told him ‘bout Laura and what happened that night
Every time I saw her it would end in a fight
It wasn’t her fault - she was sweet and kind
But loving her drove me to lose my mind
I tried so hard to do her good -
It hurt so bad that I never could
I heard my future every time she spoke
And I watched it all go up in smoke
I filled his ears with my tale of woe
He said, “Women will come, boy, and women will go -
There’s a dozen in this room that would love you fine”
I said, “Laura Delaney was a friend of mine”
(chorus)
Now I’m never gonna listen to the radio
Playing songs only lovers know
I’m never gonna drive down a lovers lane -
Should never have begun what I couldn’t sustain
Life goes on - I put it all behind
Fell in love and married a couple of times
And I tried to believe that what I felt was real
But there’s scars inside even time won’t heal
My vanity tells me there’s still a place
Deep in her heart where she sees my face
And I’ll never look where she might be found
But I’m always here in case she comes around
Wasting time with women half my age
Most of the time I’m just half-engaged
‘Cause the thought that’s always in my mind
Is that friends like Laura are hard to find
This is an epic film staring all the great Country singers and Bruce Springsteen! 
I did and do find 'sustain' a 'wrong' word! It is your style but it somehow reads odd, again it seams like an intelligent word in between not so intelligent words.
I'm not to sure how to explain what I mean.
I'll have to think about it more.
It's not 'intelligence' it's more like differences in 'category' of words.
But then again as a 'song' it would be such an epic anyway, it would probably sound wonderful.
I did and do find 'sustain' a 'wrong' word! It is your style but it somehow reads odd, again it seams like an intelligent word in between not so intelligent words.
I'm not to sure how to explain what I mean.
I'll have to think about it more.
It's not 'intelligence' it's more like differences in 'category' of words.
But then again as a 'song' it would be such an epic anyway, it would probably sound wonderful.
| a country song |
Yes, this is a blatant country epic, no disguising it. I understand the comment about the word, "sustain". Unfortunately, my friend, you are stuck with it - it is non-negotiable. Its the odd word that anchors the chorus, and it has to be sung so smoothly that you believe the singer doesn't notice, and pretty soon it becomes the perfect word, and helps keep the song from falling into the giant country-western cliche pit over which it hangs perilously, at least until you start to get a little deeper into some of the lyrics.
I hear this with three guitars. One is a 12-string acoustic, finger-picked. The other acoustic alternates between complementary finger-picking, rhythm and even an occasional lead riff. The third is an electric lead (maybe a semi-acoustic) that also emphasizes some rhythm in the lively, rocking bar room scene. I hear the tempo really picking up during this part, but it's fairly lively all the way through. The lyrics are sung with little emphasis on any particular lines or words - no added drama. Lord knows there is plenty already. Just good rhymes, good guitar, good pace, and you can get into the meaning of the lyrics or just enjoy your beer.
I got the idea for this about 20 years ago. I had a very troubled co-worker who I managed - a real down-on-his-luck, country western type character with a pick-up truck, a beautiful one-armed wife and a meth habit. His wife couldn't handle him anymore and he came to work one day and told us she had dumped him. He got very agitated listening to the love songs on the radio and we had to turn it off. I thought, "this is like a CW song", and the chorus came to mind - also the deejay playing "their song" as she walked away.
By the end of the day he had thrown a bag of meth-amphetamine at my feet and begged me to help him, and I checked him into drug rehab that day. The idea for the song sat in my brain, occasionally begging to be written. Last week, I finally pulled it out and wrote the whole thing in about a week.
I'd be interested in knowing what parts are the best, and vice-versa. Also, did this keep your interest, or did it get boring?
I hear this with three guitars. One is a 12-string acoustic, finger-picked. The other acoustic alternates between complementary finger-picking, rhythm and even an occasional lead riff. The third is an electric lead (maybe a semi-acoustic) that also emphasizes some rhythm in the lively, rocking bar room scene. I hear the tempo really picking up during this part, but it's fairly lively all the way through. The lyrics are sung with little emphasis on any particular lines or words - no added drama. Lord knows there is plenty already. Just good rhymes, good guitar, good pace, and you can get into the meaning of the lyrics or just enjoy your beer.
I got the idea for this about 20 years ago. I had a very troubled co-worker who I managed - a real down-on-his-luck, country western type character with a pick-up truck, a beautiful one-armed wife and a meth habit. His wife couldn't handle him anymore and he came to work one day and told us she had dumped him. He got very agitated listening to the love songs on the radio and we had to turn it off. I thought, "this is like a CW song", and the chorus came to mind - also the deejay playing "their song" as she walked away.
By the end of the day he had thrown a bag of meth-amphetamine at my feet and begged me to help him, and I checked him into drug rehab that day. The idea for the song sat in my brain, occasionally begging to be written. Last week, I finally pulled it out and wrote the whole thing in about a week.
I'd be interested in knowing what parts are the best, and vice-versa. Also, did this keep your interest, or did it get boring?
wow this is wonderful writing and it even has a true story attached. i like the way you flip between the present and the past. adore your style of writing.
i love the para in which the bartender steps in, cause its kinda different from the rest of the way the lyrics cum story goes, totally away.........cool
keep it going
i love the para in which the bartender steps in, cause its kinda different from the rest of the way the lyrics cum story goes, totally away.........cool
keep it going
I don't get 'young and green'? Do I have to think of a young Hulk?
The continuation of the imagery gets a bit fuzzy when he meats the bar man ; He has to fake an ID but yet the bar man calls him a 'man with a story to tell', which to me makes him somewhat older.
I have a bit of a problem with men who say that they themselves are so bad and always to blame and that the woman is so good and wonderful and flawless. It actually really pisses me off.
I would advise any man who feels that way to read 'Robert Bly's Iron John'.
This is a piece that I might not have wanted to know the 'real' story behind it, because now I read it with the thought in my head that someone with this experience, who is also himself off his nelly on methadone, would not have written about it in this way.
I really like the first two lines :
'We were parked on the gravel past the end of the track
Me and Laura Delaney in my Pontiac'
I'd love to hear it as a song, simply because I think it would be quite a challenge to put together, but I'm sure it would be amazing once completed.
The continuation of the imagery gets a bit fuzzy when he meats the bar man ; He has to fake an ID but yet the bar man calls him a 'man with a story to tell', which to me makes him somewhat older.
I have a bit of a problem with men who say that they themselves are so bad and always to blame and that the woman is so good and wonderful and flawless. It actually really pisses me off.
I would advise any man who feels that way to read 'Robert Bly's Iron John'.
This is a piece that I might not have wanted to know the 'real' story behind it, because now I read it with the thought in my head that someone with this experience, who is also himself off his nelly on methadone, would not have written about it in this way.
I really like the first two lines :
'We were parked on the gravel past the end of the track
Me and Laura Delaney in my Pontiac'
I'd love to hear it as a song, simply because I think it would be quite a challenge to put together, but I'm sure it would be amazing once completed.
It's beautiful!
I like your lyrics, Simon. Your lyrics have so much passion and soul.
simon wrote…
I hear this with three guitars. One is a 12-string acoustic, finger-picked. The other acoustic alternates between complementary finger-picking, rhythm and even an occasional lead riff.
kings wrote…
The continuation of the imagery gets a bit fuzzy when he meats the bar man ; He has to fake an ID but yet the bar man calls him a 'man with a story to tell', which to me makes him somewhat older.
well i like the para when the bar man comes in, cause............the pain of our "hero" so intense that even the bar tender see it on his face n so bar man understands that he (the hero) has a story.......
and maybe the fake ID shows that he has a problem i.e. cheating
i have butchered this too much haa haa ha..............lets see what simon has to say
yea just as kings said i too would like to hear the song and boy its a long one.......
| responses |
kings wrote…
I have a bit of a problem with men who say that they themselves are so bad and always to blame and that the woman is so good and wonderful and flawless. It actually really pisses me off.
This is a typical response that readers have to lyrics of all kinds - projecting your own attitudes onto a song. You may not like a guy's point of view, but the fact is that there are people with this point of view, and they do have a voice. If would be a boring life if everybody sang about their strength and virtue. or from the same point of view. It would eliminate the origins of Country and Blues. It would also be a world full of liars. He is who he is, and this is his story.
That said, the man isn't saying he is a terrible person, just that he was young and wild, and he started this relationship in a reckless manner and he wasn't prepared to see it through, and she was too important to him to make a mistake like that. Now he is old enough to understand what happened and put it in perspective. It has happened to a lot of men.
kings wrote…
I don't get 'young and green'? Do I have to think of a young Hulk?
The word "green" has many meanings other than color. Dictionary.com presents these various ddefinitions for the word"green", among others, which illustrates my use of it:
5. not fully developed or perfected in growth or condition; unripe; not properly aged: This peach is still green.
6. unseasoned; not dried or cured: green lumber.
7. immature in age or judgment; untrained; inexperienced: a green worker.
8. simple; unsophisticated; gullible; easily fooled.
9. fresh, recent, or new: an insult still green in his mind.
11. full of life and vigor; young: a man ripe in years but green in heart.
kings wrote…
The continuation of the imagery gets a bit fuzzy when he meats the bar man ; He has to fake an ID but yet the bar man calls him a 'man with a story to tell', which to me makes him somewhat older.
The true story that I revealed above really has nothing to do with the song story. It just inspired the chorus. The story is not even 1% borrowed from the guy who inspired it. I shared it to give you the story of how this piece came about.
Thanks for all your comments!
interesting...
so, simon, you seem to post things just before i do, and when I post mine, i feel silly because you always use a characteristic or line that i try to post
this is pretty lengthy, like the one i just posted :P and, the 4th movement of mine is called "In the Darkest Hour" , where you've used the phrase "It was our darkest hour"!
freak.
*ahem*. anyway.
this is a very interesting story, but i'm going to be honest and say that i'm not a fan of the country feel well, i should qualify that. i like your song, but i might think less of it if i were to hear it in full music. it's not a fault of your work, but rather, i've grown sick of the country feel, having lived in Kentucky for quite a while :P
but, i'm going to try to critique this anyway, without showing bias. at least... i'm going to try
as to what has already been mentioned, i think that the word "sustain" stands out in an interesting way, but i think that i like it. that's my personal preference. i think that it's a strong point for the chorus. kings said that it felt like the word was in a different "category" or level of "intelligence" maybe, but i think it's demonstrating an interesting change of vocabulary when put to contrast with the rest of the growin' up parts of the song. much of the song is spent telling the story, and does in fact use simpler grammar and rhymes. however, the first verse, last verse, and the chorus seem to me to stand out as the "looking back on it" sections, and naturally... i think they should have a different tone.
granted, if it's a country thing... maybe the shift is too much? but who am i to say such a thing, since i don't like country?
i think the bartender part is fine, personally. the imagery was clear to me. i've used the term "green" in a like manner quite often, though more in writting than speech, i'll admit. the usuage of "Son" and then "man" in the same sentence clears up the misaligning details (fake id, "man", yada yada.) there seems to be more deductive evidence that the kid is younger than there is to point to him being older. though, without such evidence, i would have guessed that he'd grown all his life (ie, all of the implied stories about being married a few times...) and THEN had this bartender experience. however, i think i might be confusing anybody who is reading this, as i'm having a hard time following my own logic this long NewYear's Day in Montreal...
hehe... i tried to take a different spin in the song i just posted ... :P "A Heart Never Dies," They Say tell me whacha think
interesting... to say the least.
i like your rhymes in this piece. they aren't distracting, and the final lines including laura's name are all very well wrapped up with a bow on them, if you know what i mean. it just resolves the rhyming quest for each verse.
I tried to believe that what I felt was real...
now if only we could find a cure for this...
any suggestions?
XO, TLS
so, simon, you seem to post things just before i do, and when I post mine, i feel silly because you always use a characteristic or line that i try to post
this is pretty lengthy, like the one i just posted :P and, the 4th movement of mine is called "In the Darkest Hour" , where you've used the phrase "It was our darkest hour"!freak.
*ahem*. anyway.
this is a very interesting story, but i'm going to be honest and say that i'm not a fan of the country feel
well, i should qualify that. i like your song, but i might think less of it if i were to hear it in full music. it's not a fault of your work, but rather, i've grown sick of the country feel, having lived in Kentucky for quite a while :P but, i'm going to try to critique this anyway, without showing bias. at least... i'm going to try
as to what has already been mentioned, i think that the word "sustain" stands out in an interesting way, but i think that i like it. that's my personal preference. i think that it's a strong point for the chorus. kings said that it felt like the word was in a different "category" or level of "intelligence" maybe, but i think it's demonstrating an interesting change of vocabulary when put to contrast with the rest of the growin' up parts of the song. much of the song is spent telling the story, and does in fact use simpler grammar and rhymes. however, the first verse, last verse, and the chorus seem to me to stand out as the "looking back on it" sections, and naturally... i think they should have a different tone.
granted, if it's a country thing... maybe the shift is too much? but who am i to say such a thing, since i don't like country?
i think the bartender part is fine, personally. the imagery was clear to me. i've used the term "green" in a like manner quite often, though more in writting than speech, i'll admit. the usuage of "Son" and then "man" in the same sentence clears up the misaligning details (fake id, "man", yada yada.) there seems to be more deductive evidence that the kid is younger than there is to point to him being older. though, without such evidence, i would have guessed that he'd grown all his life (ie, all of the implied stories about being married a few times...) and THEN had this bartender experience. however, i think i might be confusing anybody who is reading this, as i'm having a hard time following my own logic this long NewYear's Day in Montreal...
kings wrote…
I have a bit of a problem with men who say that they themselves are so bad and always to blame and that the woman is so good and wonderful and flawless. It actually really pisses me off.
hehe... i tried to take a different spin in the song i just posted ... :P "A Heart Never Dies," They Say tell me whacha think
interesting... to say the least.
i like your rhymes in this piece. they aren't distracting, and the final lines including laura's name are all very well wrapped up with a bow on them, if you know what i mean. it just resolves the rhyming quest for each verse.
I tried to believe that what I felt was real...
now if only we could find a cure for this...
any suggestions?
XO, TLS
| Some interesting comments |
As my blog says, I'm a little stuck in the "country" right now. Gotta make the best of it. It all seems to be about stories that stem from things that happened in my youth, and things that I saw - some of it was pretty ugly. Maybe it's just time to purge those demons...
Thanks for the great feedback, all of you!
Thanks for the great feedback, all of you!
Sorry, you do not have access to post...
Wanna post? Join Today!