In the morning
Sunshine in your hair
In the evening
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Showin’ me you always care
Always there
Always by my side

When I’m sleeping
Knowing you are there
Now I’m dreaming
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Fingers tangled in your hair
Warm and near
Always by my side

Tuesdays she drops off the kids goes to café then therapy
Breaks it all down with a woman whose name is like pure Bobbie Gentry
Worried about Sidney that thing that occurred on the soccer field
And the middle one’s angry the scars from the divorce may never heal
And that guitarist at Debi’s staring at her like a supplicant
Tulum was on fire but now the attraction is spent
Should she tell all that she knows?
Should she withhold?
Recount how hot they loved?
Or leave that part untold?
Or go tell Mary Jo

“I’m never gonna love him like I love my little boys
Never gonna see him when I learn a yoga pose
Never gonna need him like I need to smoke weed
But late at night when everyone at Debi’s leaves
I give myself to him completely
Mary Jo he does me sweetly
Lift your back up love to meet me
And for just a split second it seems
This is the way it’s always been
This is the way it’s gonna be”

Sundays he walks on the beachfront feeling ephemeral
He hasn’t lived here in decades but he knows the town well
Lee Street beach Greenleaf big houses and on to the university
Stops at Shakespeare’s Garden pondering romance and tragedy
And he wonders what she’s doing and something like heartbreak ensues
Wishes he had a codeine pain grows through the long afternoon
Should he ask her to fully own?
Explain the change of tone?
Or get back on the road
Just leave it alone
Let her go tell Mary Jo

“I’m never gonna love him like I love my little boys
Never gonna see him when I learn a yoga pose
Never gonna need him like I need to smoke weed
But late at night we sing ‘The Dark End Of The Street’
I play rhythm and he plays lead
He does harmony when I sing
And for just a split second it seems
This is the way it’s always been
This is the way it’s gonna be”

Thursday they ride the bikepath to the temple on Linden Ave
Some years past they were lovers he has learned to accept and relax
Her oldest is ready for college teenagers invading her home
She asks him to stop for a nightcap sort of help her to chaperone
She puts a candle on the piano pours pinot as he gets guitars tuned
Downstairs kids are noisy they sing ones they did in Tulum
He makes her laugh and smile
In her he can confide
Teenagers come upstairs to say goodnight
The candle flickers begins to die

Go tell Mary Jo…

The way it should be

One evening that winter
I thought to be
Your second husband
Part of your holy family

It just occurred to me
While we were singing
You your kid and me
Guitars and mandolin

Down to the cellar
Dust off the old label
Show Mom what we’ve found
A Margaux from ’84

You strain the sediment
We all taste the claret
Roll eyes and laughing
At something the kid said
And later a cigarette
Passing from lip to lip
Speaking in whispers
After the kid went to bed

Once we were lovers
Once we were poolside
A night black and Spanish
You spoke of retiring together
I’ll treasure that casual remark
A gold coin tossed overboard
Into the ocean dark

I understand I’ll never be
Your second husband
It was just something that occurred to me
One evening that winter
And as I was leaving
My eyelids were shining
The streetlamps were smiling
And the snow was quietly falling

Crazily kickin’
Round my hometown beach
Nokia peepin’
Shirt pressed pale green
Straw hat is tiltin’
Sunny park bench sleepin’
Don’t call me beach bum
I’m a sexy ranger

Scene of so many
Escapades in short pants
And endless summers of teenage
Reclinin’ in the tall grass
Marijuana and 12 strings
Long haired girls shimmerin’
Don’t call me hippie
I’m a sexy ranger

Nana Mouskouri singin’
Ernest Hemingway scribblin’
Green olives nibblin’
Bandol rosé sippin’
Moonlight skinny-dippin’
Casanova love makin’
Don’t call me expat
I’m a sexy ranger

Barcelona
Aix-en-Provence
Havana
Tulum
Santorini
Guaruja
Don’t call me beach bum
I’m a sexy ranger

Hey Mr. DJ play another record
You can see I’m unhappy again
Cuz Gina Valentina say that
She just wanna be my friend

I’m all in favor of peace love and understanding
But it just ain’t gonna work this time
The skating rink is empty
The beer garden is closed
Only reflection here I see is mine

I’m not your typical urban muthafucka
You could say I’m a sensitive man
But if the job description
Calls for french kissin’
Got some references that say i can

Hey Mr. DJ play another record
You can see I’m unhappy again
The popcorn case is empty
The ferris wheel is still
This is how the evening ends

Are you lost without me?
Did you see my face?
Did you see me smilin’
From far away?

Last summer I was sittin’ on the boardwalk thinkin’
Staring at an empty chair
Considering if drinking myself to death
Might be as funny as the house of mirrors

I took a pot shot by the parking lot
I won a stuffed bear and a plastic ring
Saw some Russian guys, talking to Gina
By the hot dog stand, pretended I didn’t see her

I’m not your typical urban muthafucka
You could say I’m a sensitive man
And if relevant experience
Is betrayal and rejection
I suppose I’m your man

Hey Mr. DJ play another record
You can see I’m unhappy again
The popcorn case is empty
The ferris wheel is still
This is how the evening ends

Alone is how the evening ends

Oooh be my valentine
Oooh be my prize
Oooh be my shortbread cookin
Oooh make me go wild

Oooh be my sugarcane
Oooh mango and lime
Oooh be my island of sunshine
Oooh come make we wine

Oooh be my hurricane
Oooh flood waters rise
Oooh be my red cross station
Oooh keep me alive

The real lover in me
Will never understand
Why this had to end
Why that never began
The real lover in me
Will always understand
The free love 20’s
The sexy 70’s

Well I know
We’re all damaged goods
Oh can’t you see
The real lover in you creates the real lover in me

The real lover in me
Will never understand
Why this had to end
Why that never began
The real lover in me
Will always understand
The free love 20’s
The sexy 70’s

Well it’s clear
There are no exes here
Remember when
Stephen Stills said “Love the one you’re with”

Rahde Sham Rahde Sham
Rahde Sham Rahde Sham
Rahde Sham Rahde Rahde

Pull the napkin from the table
Hook your pinky inside of mine
Move your hair back from your forehead
Breathe into the glass of wine
Talk about the oak and cherries
And the little field in Sicily
Talk about the way you’re feeling
Tell me that you see

The real lover in me

If you come round
I’ll hang around with you
And if you’re down
I’ll try and listen to you
If you rollin’
I will roll with you
If you’re lonely
I’ll talk on the cellphone with you

If you’re depressed
I’ll drink prosecco with you
If you’re hungry
I’ll make mango pancakes for you
If you’re righteous
I will laugh at you
And if you’re precious
I will marvel at you

If you love yourself
I’ll try to learn from you
And if you hate yourself
I’ll try to work with you
If you a dreadlocks
I wanna touch your hair
If you Rasta
Rasta fe born ya

If you fall down
I’ll stand on the sidewalk by you
If you strong
I’ll take yoga classes with you
If you horny
I will satisfy you
If you’re weak
I’ll hold up the sky for you

Situation is what it is
You are beholden
I have gone crazy for a Divorcée with a kid

Hangin’ out has never been strange
We have good manners
We’re not dramatic
Sleepin’ side by side in the tent in the rain

And the second hand never seems to touch on the first
But the moon is on fire in a total eclipse
And you said to me with such certainty
Some day we will be lovers

Upstate to a wedding of friends
We are roadtrippin’ we are just blissin’
With your iPod we’re singin’
Baby James and You’ve Got A Friend

Picnic stop in Stockbridge for swiming
Talkin’ men talkin’ women
And the craziness we been in

Later on
The bonfire’s flickering
People laughing and drinking
I catch your eye and I’m thinking
Are you’re wishing what I want?

But the second hand never seems to touch on the first
And the moon is on fire in a total eclipse
And you said to me with such certainty
Some day we will be lovers

And when finally the day comes
Will we hide away all afternoon in the B&B?
And when finally the night comes to cover us
Will you turn to me so sexy and say “How d’you want me?”

Last kiss you’re tired and tipsy
I touch your eyelid and whisper
“Whatever happens we’ll be alright”

Last drinks the bar at La Guardia
Blood orange and campari
Frangelico iced coffee
You’re leaving on a jet plane

We held hands
And talked through the weekend
Both agree it was sweet and
It ain’t clear when we’ll meet again

Cuz real soon you’ll be back with your boyfriend
I’m off to New Zealand
And the sun gets lost in the moon

I don’t wanna ride away or hide away from you my darling
I just wanna find a way for us to play at exaltation
I would never shy away or slide away from you my darling
I just wanna find a way for us to play at pure affection

I don’t wanna pine away or cry all day ’bout you my darling
I would rather close my eyes and fantasize ’bout your caresses
I don’t wanna play polite or fake a smile for you my darling
I just wanna clear my mind and meet your eyes without expectation

I don’t wanna taste the bile or creep the bitter vine my darling
I would rather stand aside and find a way to appreciation
I’d never deny it is so fine when I’m with you my darling
And I’d never deny there is a time for grace and exhalation

Hide away
I would never hide
Never never
Fly away