I’ve written a number of songs throughout the years, most of them pretty horrible – tragic ramblings with cliched metaphors, sappy sentiments, and forced rhyme  – all sung to overused G-C-D chord progressions (with an Em inserted on the bridge). Here’s one I sorta like. Maybe you will too. (I gotta get some sort of credit for working in a Kerouac reference).

First Hello

I saw you again
Standing by the news rack
Stealing a glimpse of what yesterday had brought
Sipping your coffee
Wearing the scarf that reminded me of the chill I felt
the first time that I saw your face on that restless Tuesday afternoon
but I know

You could be
A beauty contestant runner-up from Washington DC
A preschool teacher with 25 boys and girls who love the way you sing them
Old McDonald Had A Farm
E-I-E-I-O

But I’ll never walk beside you in the pouring rain
And we’ll never share a laugh, a tear, a joy, a pain
And I’ll never take you out for ice cream and watch that rainbow sherbet melt across your hand as you fade asleep while in my arms

Until I say that first hello

You could be
A high school drop out runaway from Nashville, Tennessee
An aspiring singer/songwriter who’s mad and burns burns burns like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spider across the stars

But I’ll never listen to the songs inside your head
And I’ll never hear you quoting Kerouac in our bed
And I’ll never hold you in my arms and put that tiny diamond ring upon your finger dreaming of the future that we’d share

But every time I see you and when I think of the scarf you wore
It only reminds me of all the hopeless dreams and empty made-up memories
Of the times I’ve dreamt but never lived because, oh because
I can’t say that first hello

I saw you again
Standing by the news rack
Stealing a glimpse of what yesterday had brought
Sipping your coffee
Wearing the scarf that reminded me of the chill I felt
the first time that I saw your face on that restless Tuesday afternoon
and I know

I’ll never walk beside you in the pouring rain
And we’ll never share a laugh, a tear, a joy, a pain
And I’ll never take you out for ice cream and watch that rainbow sherbet melt across your hand as you fade asleep while in my arms

But then you cross the street to see me
With a splash of summer sunshine in your eyes

And then you say the first hello.

Cheesy? Maybe, but if you’d like a listen, here is the link. The song was produced my by ultra-talented brother and the video was thrown together on a late spring night when I was trying to learn iMovie on my new Mac. Oh, and I stole a bunch of clips from one of my favorite movies Once.