Number nine from my upcoming album, The Could-Have-Been King.
If Only
He woke up every morning
with his mind spinning round
skipped breakfast with his family
far away from the here and now
he stepped into his rocket car
and swore to keep his oath
then he fired up the engine
buckled up and hit the road
eyes fixed on the horizon
to ease his greatest fear
that the voice inside his head would say
what he didn’t want to hear
I could have, I should have
if only – oh, I would have
At night he lay awake in bed bed
wrote lists of things to do
but without sleep whence came the dreams
he tried to make come true?
No time to ask, no time to think
no time to waste at all
he believed he could already see
the final curtain fall
And thus unfolds the tragedy
’cause our hero won’t live twice
the choir chants and clouds his gaze
as he is searching for the price
I could have, I should have
if only – oh, I would have
For all the dreams and meaning
he had been chasing after
he’d missed the breakfast table
the bliss of children’s laughter
The smell of coffee in the air
the crisp crunch of a croissant
the silence when you just taste life
when summer nights are long
It all had always been right there
only now he saw and cried
the angels whispered in his ear
all the while he died
I could have, I should have
if only – oh, I would have
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