My favorite song because it works so well. Not sure why I wrote this, but I remember sitting in my room in Goldensbridge and channeling it, playing on a classical guitar that I had at the time. Most of my songs are written, at least in form, for someone else. In the end, though, they’re mostly about me. And in this sing I cut out the middleman. I think of this song as me singing to my reflection in a mirror, and in fact, in my play Nomad, I have the main character do that. On this recording, Eric’s sublime flute playing really lifts the piece. The parenthetical title is the title I used to use for the song, the “toad” a reference to my lifelong identification with frogs.
Lyrics
I Never Saw (Lament for a Broken Toad)
I never saw you looking this way before
I never realized the feelings you had
It don’t seem so long ago that you were telling me
How it was gonna be
But I don’t recall this part at all
‘Cause I never saw you looking this way before
Maybe that’s cause you didn’t want me to see
You say you know just what’s in store
You say you’ve even known worse times before
But I never saw you looking this way at me
I never saw you looking this way before
Though you would have me think that nothing has changed
But every time you smile and tell me
Things will be fine
That’s when your eyes meet mine
And there in your eyes is where I find
That I never saw you looking this way before
Ain’t it funny how naked people in love can be
You say you’re sure it won’t happen no more
How many times have I heard that before
Hey, I never saw you looking this way at me.