From the recording Chiaroscuro
I was probably 17 or 18 years old. I had just started writing songs, and I heard a faint melody amid conversations that were happening in my parents’ family room. I went up to the piano and played through it, and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. Hearing me play the same three note figure repeatedly, one of the guests who happened to be over came up to me and asked if I was just checking to see if I remembered how to play. Those three notes turned into “Help Me.” And I needed it then. It’s strange now, looking back; I wonder how I managed to keep my head above water in that ocean of expectation. I suppose that makes this song the first lyrical song I’ve ever written. He’s been hanging around for years, and I’m glad that I’ve waited until now to put him to tape.
Lyrics
Help me
I’m slipping
I cannot see
But I can see I’m falling
All over the ground and
I’m stranded again
I know you’re out there somewhere
You’re out there floating somewhere
If you come back to me I’ll
Give you everything I have to give
It isn’t much, but still
Come back down
Help me
It’s shifting
From under me and
Over me
My horizon is waning
Her bet’s on babe shock therapy
I know you’re out there somewhere…
Don’t leave me stranded here on this island
of broken dolls and then I cried,
“No man’s an island”
If you affect me, I likewise affect you
So please come back down
I know you’re out there somewhere
You’re out there floating somewhere
If you come back to me I’ll
Take you back into my arms again
They aren’t that strong, no, but still
Come back down
to my arms
you’ll be safe