Always With Me

Lady, can you hear me, well I’m crying over you

Yes I know, I said I’d never cry again

But Baby, when you left me, my heart was torn into

Can’t you see, I’m still fading from the strain

Chorus

Cause every time I think of you, I lose all self control

Your always with me baby, deep down in my soul

Lately, night are lonely, they cut me like a knife

I don’t know, I may just go insane

Maybe, I could try to just get on with life

But I know I will never lose this pain Chorus

Bridge

All the nights without you near, despair is amplified

So many tears keep flowing through, I cannot stem the tide

I try each day to fight these blues, believe me I gave tried

As longing for you grows my dear, something inside me dies Chorus

I first wrote the basis for this song while I was in high school.

One of my friends had previously been employed as a dishwasher at a small diner called the Tow Café, but his obligations to the Burnet High School Band made his continued employment impossible. He was kind enough to the establishment to find his own replacement and especially kind to me when he asked if I would like to work in his stead. I jumped at the chance. So on the first day of HS fall 1985 I became gainfully employed working about 40 hours a week after school and on weekends.

I spent a lot of time at a dishwashing sink. I wrote quite a few songs at that same sink. As I would wash a melodic line would come into my head and I would wile away the hours writing a chorus and then verse. After I got home at night I would write the song down before I started my homework. The songs I felt were pretty good, I kept. I shared them with very few people over the years. Occasionally I would meet someone who played guitar and we would talk about putting those songs to music, but talk was all that occurred.

In 2013, my birth mother bought me a new guitar and I decided that I was going to learn enough to put my songs to music. Hours every day for over a year I would teach myself to play thanks to various books I purchased and YouTube videos. I can finger basic chords and strum. By the time my child was born in late 2014, I still hadn’t learned enough and the next four years were hectic.

A month ago I decided to try again. I was looking online for anything that would aid me when I came across a video by MYGUITARSAGE.COM that explained major chords and song writing in a way that suddenly made sense. Every night, after I put my child to bed I would grab my guitar and work on a song. Always With Me was the first I completed.

I felt I would at least put my songs on the YouTube channel where I had uploaded many of my Karaoke songs for friends and family. Next I talked a good friend and asked for him to listen to the song to see what he thought and maybe he would play guitar and harmonize while I sang. I had already figured out playing accurately and singing at the same time was not my forte. He listen to my recording of the song and gave me some feedback and suggestions. I listened, because he had actually turned down a Nashville offer years ago.

What you see above are the changes to the song. Instead of a straight forward “I lost you because I cheated on you” hurting song, it became a “I lost you” hurting song. Now the listener can decide the reason.

I hope to soon be able to get the song out on my YouTube channel. I am currently working with the technology I have available to create a simple backing track I can plug into the sound system at the bar my friend owns and record a video.

Now I am going to include the original version of the song so you can see how much it has changed lyrically and structurally.

The original title was In My Mind

Baby can you hear me, well I’m crying over you

And I know I said I’d never cry again

But baby, when you left me, you broke this poor fools heart

And I know, I will never love again

Chorus

And every time I think of you, it tears me up inside

You’ll always be my baby, if only in my mind

Baby, please believe me, when I say that I’m sorry

And I know, that words are not enough

But baby, If you come back, I promise to be true

And I know, I will never stray again Chorus