LIFSOS WRITES A SONG

 

Right, so if you read F.'s blog--and of course she has an exponentially greater number of readers than LIFSOS does--you know that she's gal-crazy for this Glen Hansard singer/actor/sensitive guy dude.

She went to his concert last night and swooned, but she was also really impressed by the opening act's cover of a Michelle Shocked song called "If Love Was a Train."

I've never heard the song, and frankly I tend to confuse Michelle Shocked with, like, Jewel and Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco and all those other 90s-ish wymyn singer-songwriters who made me feel guilty for having that pesky Y chromosome.

But the theme of love being a train was intriguing to me, so I wrote a song around it. It won't make any sense to anyone who hasn't lived in the New York City area, but I'm offering it up for what it's worth.

I may record it for podcast, playing the Guitar Hero guitar, with Samantha the Cat on background vocals.

Here it is.

IF LOVE WAS A TRAIN (IT WOULD BE THE LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD)
(c) LIFSOS, 2007.


If love was a train, it'd be the LIRR

Cause love has a way of keeping you waiting

Like for the track announcement at Penn Station

Looking for love can make you feel beat

Like when you can't find a seat

Cause the train is jammed

With drunk Islanders fans after a game

Or buff dudes on their way to Fire Island

To practice the love that dare not speak its name

Or the Prada-clad chicks on their way to the Hamptons

There is no word that rhymes with "Hamptons."

If love was a train, it'd be the LIRR

When you finally find it, love will make you babble on

Like the clackety-clack of that 5:17 express to Babylon

But sometimes love makes you change at Jamaica

Or it stops on the tracks due to a signal failure

Love makes your heart sing, but your head no wiser

Or it empties you out like that tallboy can of Budweiser

That rolls down the aisle when the train hits a curve

Love will punch a hole in your soul if you let it

Like when the conductor punches your ticket

Remember to keep it if it's a round-trip.

If love was a train, it'd be the LIRR

When you thirst for it, they've shut down the bar car

Or you want to let it it go, but it just won't let you

Like when you need to use the bathroom, but the toilet's jammed

With what looks like the remains of a large salt pretzel

Jeez, I hope that's really just what's left of someone's pretzel

Oh yes, love is just like the Long Island Rail Road

It'll take you places, but on its own terms

And you should bring some hand sanitizer to deal with the germs

So remember that love is a union of hearts, bodies, and minds

But be mindful that it never gets in or leaves on time.

Comments

[Ellen]

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.