Paris alone
This is the first song I wrote. At the time (March of 2014), I was a bit frustrated that my son, Jamie had knocked out a dozen very nice songs on Garage Band in the year preceding while I – an otherwise pretty creative guy – had felt not one speck of creativity with music for all of the 45 years that I have had a guitar. His songs, by the way are here for your listening pleasure. I may be biased of course but they are very good.
Then, one day while driving to work, a line of poetry came into my head, as happens frequently. They became the first two lines of this song and by the end of the day, sitting in the back of a busy conference room, the whole lyric for this song was all written down. By the end of the month, I managed to invent music for it and it was recorded. And I thought… oh, that’s how it is done. I get it!
It is a simple song – three chords: E, A, B. The change in the verses from E to A is meant to mimic the same sound of change as in the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction. I don’t expect you to hear it!
It is about the frustration of having a girlfriend who showed no interest in ever going to Paris – the City of Love!!!! – with me. She wanted other things so I always ended up in Paris alone. What a waste! Most of the words are real experiences. Jamie was in Paris with me once at the train station, Gare du Nord and he was not liking the milling of a thousand people going every which way. He is a small town guy. He said miserably that the place was like an ant hill. He was right. While walking around Paris, I had been asked several times to take a photo of a couple with their camera who were doing Paris the right way (together). Once was a year after I wrote this song and I smiled. I was often there in late August and the smell of Fall was in the air.
Years later, I did take another wonderful woman to Paris and we got engaged on the Eiffel Tower. I fixed Paris, finally!
Paris Alone
The train pulls into Paris. She struts like an Heiress
Down the platform
She wears a small mini. Her legs are kinda skinny
But they're gorgeous
Her hair is shiny black, Flows way down her back
It’s really something
She’s such a pretty girl. She’ll take you for a whirl
If she wants to
But I don't mind, she's not my kind
I've got a lover who’s fine and mine
She’s my girl. She’s on my mind
Making me smile all the time
Walking ‘round the Gare du Nord, Navigating through the horde
It’s an ant hill
Taxis, buses, subway trains. Noisy place if it rains
Hustle, bustle
Took a walk by the Seine. Thought I saw that girl again
But it’s another
“S’il vous plait, please Masseur, Would you take my picture here
With my boyfriend”
I don’t mind to be so kind
He’s got a lover who looks real fine
I hope he takes the needed time
To treat her like I treat mine
Lunch is a glass of red, French pate and stick of bread
At the Café
Streets are lined with great big trees, I love the smell of fallen leaves
As summer dies
Will you come to Paris, love. She says, “Whatcha ya thinking of?
I don’t want to”
“I want to see the Northern Lights, Frozen seas and other sites
And Polar Bears”
The train pulls out of Paris now.
When I get home, I’ll find out how
To take my love away to see
Any place she’ll go with me
She is my only girl. She takes me for whirl
When she wants to
I love her clever mind. She is fun and she is kind
She’s really something
Her hair’s as fine as silk. Her skin’s as smooth as milk
And she’s gorgeous
That twinkle in her eye Is how she tells me why
She’s with me