You're gonna make me lonesome

Last week, I had the privelege of seeing Shawn Colvin play at the Variety Playhouse on Saturday. I've been a fan of her for years, her lyrics are familiar to me like a favorite poem. I run them through my head when I'm falling asleep at night instead of counting sheep. Sometimes, I'll see someone and think, "you have a face with a view". Or, when I love someone so much and I'm having a great time with them, I'll think, "you're gonna make me lonesome when you're gone." I've been working on writing my speech for Christianne's wedding and I keep coming back to "All Roads Lead to You" as the perfect metaphor for coming back to someone year after year and knowing that they're the one.

She sings my life, in that sweet, folky voice. So you can only imagine how I jumped up and down when I met Clay, a classmate, and discovered that Shawn is his sister. Clay is modest and thoughtful. He left three tickets for me for the show including backstage passes, so we met her afterwards. Here we are at the bus-Shawn in her puffy vest and thrift store dress.

My favorite song is one of Shawn's oldest...enjoy the lyrics here, and see if they don't invade your dreams tonight.

China gets broken
And it will never be the same
Boats on the ocean
Find their way back again
I am weaving
Like a drunkard
Like a balloon up in the air
I am needing a puncture and someone
To point me somewhere
I'm gonna keep my head on straight
I just hope it's not too late
Open up the gate I go straight on, steady on

Steady on

I was feeling imploded
A wooden smile, a wooden heart
The things exploded
Like rockets in the dark
Now I'm pulling out splinters
And I'm off to hibernate somewhere
For the nuclear winter
Of another love affair

"Cause he seemed like a miracle
I ate it up like cereal
But it was something like shrapnel

Steady On

It's like ten miles of a two-lane
On a South Dakota wheat plain
In the middle of a hard rain
A slow boat or a fast train
I am gonna keep my head on straight
I'm gonna keep my head on straight

Steady on