The Salley Gardens

Down by the Salley Gardens

My love and I did meet

She passed the Salley Gardens

On her lovely snow white feet

She bid me to take love easy

As the leaves grown upon a tree

But I was young and foolish

And with her would not agree

On the banks of a winding river

My love and I did stand

And upon my leaning shoulder

She placed her snow white hand

She bade me to take life easy

As the grass grows upon the weir

But I was young and foolish

And now I am full of tears

Telegraph Hill

I have a photo that I’ve kept of you

You were standing next to you-know-who

His hand was lying heavy on your waist

You had been looking away just then

You kept telling me that we’re just friends

And that’s how it’s always going to stay

A bunch of strangers on Telegraph Hill

In an old photograph in which time stands still

Gave you a letter with my new address

In the lobby where the other guests

Were busy both arriving and departing

The pictures turned out well enough

But the story never added up

I always hoped that something might be starting

Among the strangers on Telegraph Hill

In an old photograph in which time stands still

Of all of the ways that things could go

I guess it only goes to show

Sometimes you never know

Until you know…

And has it really been that long a time?

Every now and then you come to mind

And I’m sinking in a sea of memories

What was it that we were feeling then?

I find myself drifting away again

Into a dream of who I used to be…

Just a stranger on Telegraph Hill

In an old photograph in which time stands still.

You Won’t Pick Up

There’s a penny on the sidewalk

Lying there at your feet

And the fact that you won’t touch it

Just tells the world it’s cheap

And so the shine wears down

From brilliant orange to brown

Another piece of wasted luck

That you won’t pick up

All the jokes and the little secrets

We shared among ourselves

Are now folded away in pockets

And it’s “thanks” and “wish you well.”

There’s nothing I can tell you

There’s nothing here that’s new

And there’s no point in dropping hints

When you won’t pick up

I can’t make it any plainer

And there’s nothing that you’ll say

So instead of my explaining

Let’s just save it for a rainy day

And I’m standing at a pay phone

At the end of the day

Everybody else is leaving

They’ve got wheels to roll them away

While I stand and count the rings

And try to think of other things

But I know that I’ll always be out of luck

And you won’t pick up

Even That Won’t Make You Mine

If I stood outside your door

Until the sun began to shine

And I said I’d be all yours

Even that won’t make you mine

If at every corner store

I bought every Valentine

And I laid them at your door

Even that won’t make you mine

I wrote all the reasons you could fall in love with me

On the inside of a hotel matchbook sleeve

I’m getting bad advice from all my so-called friends

What would it matter if we broke my heart again?

If I told you how I felt

And that I miss you all the time

And you’re all I dream about

Even that won’t make you mine

Almost Good Enough to Keep

Just two steps from the perfect love

We were close but never close enough

Though I’m in, it is not too deep

It’s almost good enough to keep

Just a heartbeat from the perfect kiss

Still not anything she’ll really miss

The fit was fine but the price too steep

It’s almost good enough to keep

She always said she really learned a lot

About what she does and does not want

The sort of thing that makes you wonder what

It is that you could never ever do…

In a world where nothing lasts

And today’s papers are tomorrow’s trash

I guess that I should not be losing sleep…

It’s almost good enough to keep

Better Off Alone

There’s a bird out on a fence

Just outside my window ledge

And he’s singing for the summer which is gone

As the daylight disappears

And the winter time draws near

He knows that soon he’ll have to move along

When it gets too cold to sing

That’s the time that he’ll take wing

Cause that is the only way he’s known

And he knows that we’ll be better off alone

When I fell in love you

It seemed like such an easy thing to do

I never gave a though to how it might end

Now it feels so bittersweet

Every time we talk and meet

Just like a pair of strangers trying to be friends

Though we think that we’re so smart

Hidden deep within the shadows of our hearts

There are things that no one could have known

And so I guess we’re better off alone

Sometimes when the winter falls

It comes and falls so hard it hits you like a stone

The trees have lost their leaves, the sun is cold as ice

And it cuts right to your bones…

Now outside the birds are gone

From far away I hear their songs

As they fade and disappear into the blue

Were they singing us those songs?

For their friends who now are gone

The way that I’m now singing this for you?

For reasons no one knows

Just like the seasons, love comes and goes

And that is the only way I’ve known

And so I guess we’re better off alone

(All songs and lyrics copyright Paul Miller 2006, except “Salley Gardens,” traditional Irish song.)