The Handle of Your Heart
I don't hardly dance at all
I'm more used to choppin' wood
Swing the axe and I let it fall
And if the blade lands where it should
That wood just falls to pieces
Just the way that I'm doin' now
Just watching how your shadow flies
Across the wall I'm leanin' on
With all these other country guys
Who'd die to take your hand...
The way I'm asking if I might,
Would you teach me how to dance tonight
I've got two left feet, can you set me right?
Lord, I hardly dare to ask
But if you take this mighty task
If you set my feet to movin'
I will waste no time in provin' I'm
The man to hold his hands around
The handle of your heart
I'm starin' at your long brown hair
Like watching wind through willow trees
Smellin' flowers in the air
Feelin' summer on the breeze
That seems to blow around you
Swirls the hem of your cotton dress
Lifts the corners of your smile
I've known some women I confess
But I have never seen such style,
You are wild, as a river flowin'
And so I'm askin' if I might
And would you teach me how to dance tonight
I've got two left feet, can you set me right?
Lord, I hardly dare to ask
But if you take this mighty task
If you set my feet to movin'
I will waste no time in provin' I'm
The man to hold his hands around
The handle of your heart
And I may not hold a candle
To the lover of your dreams
But I'm keen... to set to tryin'.
I thought this song was massively over-written when I first put it together, and I was actually a bit embarassed by the clunky metaphor "the handle of your heart." But I really liked and admired the character in whose voice the story is told, and as soon as I realized the metaphor was his, not mine, I was charmed by it.
This song has had real staying power for me. It's a treat to sing all that internal rhyme, and the way the lyrics flow in three-quarter time makes me keep playing and playing, as if I were canoeing the same stretch of river time and again and finding new depths each time.
I used to sing this in B-flat, right in the middle of my range, but lately I've been dropping it down to G, and letting the weight of it really settle in the bottom end. Eyes closed, strumming and soaring, feeling the axe in my hands as if love could be handled that easily.... I'm not much of a vocalist, but I truly love to sing this song.
I'm more used to choppin' wood
Swing the axe and I let it fall
And if the blade lands where it should
That wood just falls to pieces
Just the way that I'm doin' now
Just watching how your shadow flies
Across the wall I'm leanin' on
With all these other country guys
Who'd die to take your hand...
The way I'm asking if I might,
Would you teach me how to dance tonight
I've got two left feet, can you set me right?
Lord, I hardly dare to ask
But if you take this mighty task
If you set my feet to movin'
I will waste no time in provin' I'm
The man to hold his hands around
The handle of your heart
I'm starin' at your long brown hair
Like watching wind through willow trees
Smellin' flowers in the air
Feelin' summer on the breeze
That seems to blow around you
Swirls the hem of your cotton dress
Lifts the corners of your smile
I've known some women I confess
But I have never seen such style,
You are wild, as a river flowin'
And so I'm askin' if I might
And would you teach me how to dance tonight
I've got two left feet, can you set me right?
Lord, I hardly dare to ask
But if you take this mighty task
If you set my feet to movin'
I will waste no time in provin' I'm
The man to hold his hands around
The handle of your heart
And I may not hold a candle
To the lover of your dreams
But I'm keen... to set to tryin'.
I thought this song was massively over-written when I first put it together, and I was actually a bit embarassed by the clunky metaphor "the handle of your heart." But I really liked and admired the character in whose voice the story is told, and as soon as I realized the metaphor was his, not mine, I was charmed by it.
This song has had real staying power for me. It's a treat to sing all that internal rhyme, and the way the lyrics flow in three-quarter time makes me keep playing and playing, as if I were canoeing the same stretch of river time and again and finding new depths each time.
I used to sing this in B-flat, right in the middle of my range, but lately I've been dropping it down to G, and letting the weight of it really settle in the bottom end. Eyes closed, strumming and soaring, feeling the axe in my hands as if love could be handled that easily.... I'm not much of a vocalist, but I truly love to sing this song.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home