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"Back in the summer of 1989 when this song was written I was house sitting form some friends, reading MacBeth during a thunderstorm,. It was very exciting. That's the first verse. The second involves the somewhat ambiguous relationship between my female friends and myself before I came out. And the thirds verse was inspired by 'The Lost Years of Jesus' by Elizabeth Clare Prophet."

lyrics

Shakespeare sits in the corner
Writing the tragedy of me
We ride out the thunderstorms together
And asks me what am I thinking
And I say "Billy, you gotta understand
You and me, you see, we're both just common men
It's the words that matter. It's the words that set us free
In the soul of every poet lie the dreams for humanity."

Mona Lisa says she's in love with me
Though she knows I can't love her back
We meet each other from time to time
When our desolate lives cross paths
I wrote a letter. I said "Lisa please
Tell me true what I can do to make you see
Than inside I'm just a writer, to the pen I will say 'I do'
I can kiss you and I can hold you
But it's the words that I make love to."

St. Issa sits at a table writing scriptures in a hidden book
The parchment's yellowed but the ink is clear
For the monks to take a look
And Buddha, waiting on the doomsday bell
Sits cross-legged and reads his Bible well
They're just words but still we laugh.
They're just words but still we cry.
They're just words but still the hurt us.
To say "I'm sorry" shouldn't be a crime.

credits

from Hanging On For Dear Life (The 20th Century Demos Volume 1), released October 26, 2000
All words and music by Brian McKnight (ASCAP), Tragical Mirth Music
Copyright 1998
Recording copyright 2000

Produced by Brian McKnight
Engineered by Phil Mehaffey

Josh Horvath: congas
Brian McKnight: guitars, bass, harpsichord, vocal

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The Baker Street Irregulars image

The Baker Street Irregulars Chicago, Illinois

Somewhere between Plastic Ono and Rolling Thunder, THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS bring an LGBTQ twist to the classic folk/folk rock/indie milieu. Brian McKnight – the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist at the center of this one-man-band – enlists the aid of the occasional musician (thus the irregular line-up) to record original songs that are at once deeply personal and entirely universal. ... more

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