From the recording THE MARIONETTE: This & That from Hither & Yon
This is another tune unassociated with any sort of production, but its scenes replay in my mind on the occasional sleepless night. Ah, the things that keep “men of a certain age” up at night. It is the teeniest bit embarrassing, but I’m only human, after all. And I’m not dead yet. So I present to you the true story of something that never happened... late one evening in the spring of 1984 in Warrensburg, Missouri... in a dorm that no longer stands.
Lyrics
I don’t remember your name, but I can still see your face
So close to mine in that long ago, far away place
Your eyes promised secrets laid bare. If I’d only take your hand and the dare
That led to a room in a dorm after hours. Heaven was waiting in there
And your hair fell like ribbons of red
Traced every curve from your hips to your head
Draping your pale, freckled skin
Kissed by whispers of light, on a night filled with what might have been
But I told you “no.” And I didn’t go
I won’t call it regret. And most days I even believe it
I tell myself you’re just a “What if...?” when you tug at me like this
But sometimes at night when sleep’s beyond reaching
And I’m lying here awake tracing shapes on the ceiling
And I can’t shake the memory or that uneasy feeling hiding there
‘Cause I told you “no.” And I’ll never know
If your hair fell like ribbons of red
Traced every curve from your hips to your head
Draping your pale, freckled skin
Kissed by whispers of light, on a night filled with what might have been
Music & Lyrics by David Greathouse
© 2018, Sourdough Music, ASCAP