So whenever I feel a relationship has potential of going someplace I eventually make the person listen to this song. I ask one question afterwards that gives all sorts of perspective into thier views of love and romance. There is no wrong answer, but there are definately wrong ways to defend the right answer. Anyone reading can feel free to kick in thier two cents. Besides the question it is a tremendous song performed by one of the greatest storytellers to ever live.
A Better Place To Be
Performed by Harry Chapin
From Greatest Stories Live © Copyright 1976
Written by Harry Chapin
It was an early morning bar room,
And the place just opened up.
And the little man came in so fast
And he started at his cusps.
And the broad who served the whisky,
She was a big old friendly girl.
Who tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin’ at the world.
And she said, “Hey bub it’s — it’s been awhile
Since you been around.
Where the Hell you been hidin’?
And why you look so down?”
Well the little man just sat there
Like he’d never heard a sound.
The waitress she gave out with a cough,
And actin’ not the least put off,
She spoke once again.
She said, “I don’t want to bother you,
Consider it’s understood.
I know I’m not no beauty queen,
But I sure can listen good.”
And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips.
He took a couple of sips,
Then he told the waitress this story …
“I am the midnight watchman down at Miller’s Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rustin’; I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner, I stopped to get a bite,
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord (Lord, Lord, Lord) she was alright.
“You see, she was so damned beautiful
That she could warm a winter frost.
But she looked long past lonely,
And well nigh unto lost.
Now I’m not much of a mover,
Or a pick-’em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over,
And give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord (Lord, Lord, Lord)
She was worth a try.
“Well I was tongued-tied like a school boy,
I stammered out some words.
It did not really matter much,
‘Cause I don’t think she heard.
She just looked clear on through me
To a space back in my head.
It shamed me into silence,
As quietly she said:
If you want me to come with you,
Then that’s all right with me.
‘Cause I know I’m goin’ nowhere,
And anywhere’s a better place to be …
Anywhere’s a better place to be.
“Well I drove her to my boarding house,
And I took her up to my room.
And I went to turn on the only light,
To brighten up the gloom.
But she said,
Please leave the light off,
Oh I don’t mind the dark.
And as her clothes all tumbled ’round her,
I could hear my heart.
The moonlight shone upon her
As she lay back in my bed.
It was the kind of scene I only
Had imagined in my head.
I just could not believe it,
To think that she was real.
And as I tried to tell her she said,
Shhh … I know just how you feel.
And if you want to come here with me,
Then that’s all right with me.
‘Cause I’ve been oh so lonely,
Lovin’ someone is a better way to be …
Anywhere’s a better place to be.
“Well the morning come so swiftly,
I held her in my arms.
And she slept like a baby,
Snug and safe from harm.
I did not want to share her,
Or dare to break the mood,
So before she woke I went out
To buy us both some food.
“I came back with my paper bag,
To find that she was gone.
She’d left a six word letter saying:
‘It’s time that I moved on.’”
You know the waitress she took her bar rag,
And wiped it across her eyes.
And as she spoke her voice came out
As something like a sigh.
She said, “I wish that I was beautiful,
Or that you were halfway blind.
And I wish I weren’t so Goddamn fat,
I wish that you were mine.
And I wish that you’d come with me,
When I leave for home.
For we both know all about emptiness,
And livin’ all alone.”
And the little man,
Looked at the empty glass in his hand,
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, “I, I guess I’m out of gin.
And know we both have been
So lonely …
… And if you want me to come with you,
Then that’s all right with me.
‘Cause I know I’m goin’ nowhere,
And anywhere’s a better place to be.” .
The question is: Is this a happy or sad ending and why?
Never heard that song before. The whole thing was sad up to the end. I’m a firm believer in “it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” You never know who you’re going to connect with so why not give someone a shot? It’s better than being alone. I’m glad the two lonely people found each other and don’t have to be lonely anymore. I know a lot about being lonely and maybe it’s just a case of the grass being greener on the other side, but I don’t see how anywhere could be worse than nowhere. But that’s just my two cents.
They have me closing now. Guess that means I’m a good server?
Or that. You know, whatever. lol No, that’s a good point. How do you know when someone is worth it though? See, this is where lack of experience really hurts.
Thanks for making my schedual for me. 🙂
I don’t trust any of the newbies. Nope, not at all. But that was directed more towards some stuff that’s going on outside of work. You know how “friends” are. I’m just recently starting to see someone’s true colors and I feel sort of dumb I didn’t see it before. I’m sure everyone else did.
Congrats, Sherlock! Now what are you going to have to bug me about? lol
I have to say sad … resignation … at least as per the love aspect.
Can’t help but to think that the new affair at the end will be as short as the former, and resigned.
There is in it, implicit, the happy realization that we are not in the state of loneliness due to such a thing as looks.
But the sad realization that it is a general state of our (human) being … the Schopenhauer inspired angst … short punctuations, only, of joy.