Thursday 20 December 2007

the one thing


the one thing that I've wanted
eludes me to this day
I drive around just looking
with nothing much to say
the ones that have it, earned it
while the others, we just pray
for the one thing that we wanted
but eludes us to this day~

Aye, the one thing that we wanted, but eludes us to this day!

well you take the road to riches
and bloody well you may
find the path that intersects it
when your greed gets in the way
and blindly turn aside
when all the beggars plead, "Oi Vey'!
you've got the one thing that they've wanted
but eludes them to this day~

Aye,the one thing that they've wanted but eludes them to this day!

while I wait around just hoping
that my wages serve me well
and try to keep the heat down
while the gas bill goes to hell
not the thing I really needed
but the one that keeps me warm
it's my thermal underwear~
and all that's clinging to my form~

Aye, her thermal underwear is all that's clingin' to her form!

I pull myself together
in the early morning light
and layer on and layer up
'cause this has been my plight
the news guy says it's snowing and
Long Island's in a freeze, Geez
the last thing that I needed
and it's right up to my knees~

Aye, the LAST thing that she needed and it's right up to her knees!

So I'll boil a pot of water
and I'll fill me up a tub
and I'll soak my father's daughter
till there's nothin' left to scrub
and when I'm toasty warm and ready
then I'll climb back in the bed
close my eyes and dream of summer
and the one thing in my head~

Close her eyes and dream of summer and the one thing in her head!

It's the one thing that I've wanted, but forever left unsaid.

3 comments:

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Great poem and very entertaining to read. I'll come back to ponder on the "one thing".

Angelissima said...

so Irish! I can hear the bodhran, bones, pipes and whistle!

Gina said...

Thanks LGS. Keep pondering. I was thinking maybe she wanted respect and a payoff for all of her hard work...something to show for it...or at least to warm the cockles of her heart. i can't even say what it was that she was wanting, but i am pondering it myself. these lyrics were written to a melody that popped into my head as I was trying to get the water to heat up in the shower. It's an Alfred Hitchcock sounding melody, if you recall the opening music. I had a sense of 'poverty' in my mind, but you are right, Ang, Irish, or maybe Cockney. I tend to visualize characters singing these songs and have no idea where they are going at the outset. this one kinda reminds me of something you'd hear in a musical like Oliver Twist or Les Miserables. Mary Poppins? There are some guys singing the chorus, probably shipbuilders? Guys at a pub? Who knows? Sheesh...