From the recording Twelve Children (CD-quality WAV)
Fifteen years later, I'm not sure how I feel about this song. I had been picking up my piano skills, and happened, at about 3am one night, onto a rhythm and vibe that pulled a mournful, overloaded set of images into my mind -- a kind of turning away from a brief affair, accepting that the relationship and era are finally over. I think I was reading a lot of Fitzgerald at the time, maybe Tender is the Night, where the protagonist confronts his Icarus moment, and is resigned to the downward descent. It's accurate, it's universal, but runs darker than I like these days, especially as I rush toward my own autumn. In any case, it represents a definitive turn in the arc of the album as our hero understands the inevitable. Tim Kemp's piano work created a perfect bed for Joe Colgan's sensitive accent work.
Lyrics
She holds her wine like the world in her hand
Laughing aloud and drinking it down like a man
Turn around, hesitate, drink to tomorrow
There's happiness there, or maybe that's sorrow
Every night seems to run on too long
We sit by the window curled up inside of my song
Every night seems to run to the end and we’re
Still sitting there, waiting for sunshine and I
I’m stepping into the sky this time
One by one cigarette butts hit the sand
Red light is fading, taking my eyes off the land
Ash to ashes, love turned to dust
Choosing my road, she's choosing it for me, and I
I’m stepping into the sky this time
Every night seems to run on before me
Like so many dream that lingered before
I step through the window, I won’t use the door
It’s been done before, we’ve been here before
And this time,
I’m stepping into the sky
This time
This time
This time
This time