I studied songwriting in NYC with Lori Carson, and this song was the first one I wrote using the process she taught me. I wanted to write a song that was as much about missing a city as it was about missing a person, because every little nook and cranny and corner and tree can remind you of when you were there with them...
This song is specifically about New Orleans...the boulevard is Canal Street, an ex used to live on a street called Mystery, right next to the Whole Foods on Esplanade.
In addition to a few very special people from my past, the French Quarter and Riverfront, where the CD cover photos were taken, were heavy on my mind while writing this song.
lyrics
you said 'i'll see you later'
and the sidewalk swallowed you whole
at the corner of 5th and Mystery,
city lights dance, and you turn to go
a sea of headlights on the boulevard,
like an earthbound river of stars
they blur by me on my way
past the blue tint of the bars
CHORUS
what i wouldn't give
to know if you're still beautiful
but i guess some things are best left behind
and what if i could go back in time
and be more vulnerable?
well, somewhere in my mind
those city lights still ...
shine
that's where you bought me that shirt
that's where you said 'i love you' first
that's where we sat and talked and talked
the day we walked and walked and walked...
there's that corner we turned
something broke beneath our feet
like a burned out white christmas bulb
crushed there on the cold concrete
CHORUS
things you love, things you need, things you lose, and I guess all of them are what you are
I remember you said so quietly:
'don't confuse those city lights with stars'
what i wouldn't give to know
if you're still wonderful
but I guess some things are best left behind
and what if i could go back in time
and be more vulnerable?
well, i guess somewhere in my mind,
those city lights always...
shine
they shine
i think they'll always shine...
they will shine, they shine
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