From the recording Chiaroscuro
This was the last song to come for the album, and he was a surprise. It was the day after the big emotional earthquake that kind of tore my heart in two. There’s quite the fault line that runs across my heart, and tension had been building for months. I went to the gym, and the song kind of showed up and started humming. I told him that I wasn’t going to write him. He persisted and I relented. I got home from the gym (and it’s a testament to how tenacious the song was that he held on throughout my workout – usually when a melody comes at the gym, it’s gone before I get through cardio, but I digress) and I sat at the piano. The music came all at once, and the lyrics over the next couple of days. I called Trevor and told him I had a new song to record for the album. This one ended up kicking another song off the album, but I’m glad he showed up. I didn’t figure out what to call him for sure until the last possible minute, but I’m happy with the title I settled on. As soon as he was finished, I knew that I was going to be okay, and I was able to start rebuilding. I think that's the case because I get to own the story now. I'll never forget the way he made me feel; and I will never allow anyone to make me feel that way again. This song is a monument to that lesson.
Lyrics
Hey, go tell the sea
I think his water may be poisoned
but I’d still risk my life to take a drink
and I just wanted to the chance to show
that I could be the undertow
to sweep him to a place he’d never seen
and once he’d see that place he’d say
“I wish you’d shown me yesterday,
but I’m afraid it’s time for me to leave
because I’m looking for a man –“
I said,
“I know. You’re looking for a man who isn’t me.”
Hey, go tell the sea,
that I think it might be over
so my ugliness made friends with his debris
and though they came here looking for a glove
both knew that, when push came to shove,
the ice was getting thinner by the week
and I’ve wasted so much time here
I wasted so much time again
I’ve wasted so much time here on my knees
because you’re looking for a man,
I know you’re looking for a man who isn’t me.
So, hey, go tell the sea
that everything looks different
now that I’m matching wits with his entropy
but I still can’t believe that once
again I lost my voice when
there were so many songs left for us to sing
and if I’d sing those songs you’d say,
“It doesn’t matter anyway,
and I’m afraid the time has come to leave
because I’m looking for a man –“
I said,
“I know…you’ve said so many times before that you’re looking for a man who isn’t me.”
Hey, go tell the sea
I think his water’s poisoned,
but I’d still risk my life to take a drink