Taking A Break

Taking A Break



Step to the mic, on the road, at largest venue we have performed,
As often as I've sung this song, you'd think, no cause for alarm;
Reality never seems to set in, as I navigate the first verse,
Knowing full well, when I step away, the feeling only gets worse.


This song is about a first love, the one I let slip out the door.
Each time I sing it, it takes me back, seems to hurt a little more.
Second stanza, once cloudy when written, more focused, now I find,
Once the chorus slides in, harmony helps to easy my weary mind.


But when the band members step to the spotlight, each one takes a turn,
I'm standing in the shadows, dealing with lessons I have learned.
Each looks at me, as they perform, hoping the singer will approve,
I nod my head, give them a grin, trying to get back in the groove.


The guitar guy has been with me for years, he knows what going on,
The fiddle player's heard all the stories: coming, going and gone.
The bass and drum pair, take pains to get it right, in their own little world,
The steel guitar man we hired for this tour, never even heard of the girl.


I guess I shouldn't complain or cry in my beer, success is now at hand,
My song is on the radio, I'm on the road with this really fine band,
Studio producers, and the A&R men, swear to heaven I've got what it takes,
They see my melting down as having soul, when the band is taking their breaks.


I may write a hundred songs, as I move along, with what they call a career,
But I'll never have another, as long as I live, where the meaning is so clear.
When I'm in a crowd, I make it okay. When I'm alone I consumed with fear.
She who left me her heart surely won't mind, if you sit down, lend me an ear.


One day I'll get to a place, where reality's skewed, I will fail to see,
What the true intent was when I wrote this song, what it meant to me.
And if I practice real hard, at bending a string, who knows what I'll do,
I may take a break in an encore, forgetting who it was that made me blue.


Michael Todd  (2013)