Lost Lover's Waltz

by Kray Van Kirk

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NOTES: Nanci Griffith once said that if a song didn't come out in 20 minutes, it wasn't going to (if I remember correctly). This song is a good example of how long it sometimes takes me! I found the first lines of this one while I was ripping out all the rugs from my house (they were over 20 years old). I was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by plywood floors and bare walls, which made a nice echo, and I took a break to mess around on the guitar. The first verse jumped out at me right away; the rest took several years!

This is also the first song I managed to complete in my little home studio, complete with mattress padding on the ceiling and the necessity of waiting until the puppy dog next door has ceased his monologue for the day before attempting to record.

I like this song quite a bit. If I had the money, I would definitely try to film a music video to it- the Rennaisance imagery would make for a wonderful video!

Standard tuning

Alone on the dance floor at midnight
Waiting for you to appear
Red velvet dress, and black satin lace
Dusted my memories dear
But you're waiting alone, on a floor like my own
For a man with a face that's not mine
So I'll dance alone with a ghost I once knew
Once upon a time

This is my lost lover's waltz
Dancing like lovers do
This is my lost lover's, lover's lost waltz
That I never danced with you

And down my the water where the minstrels all play
And the painters they wait for the light
The dancers they sit, with their feet in their hands
And quietly rest from the night
And the playwrights they sit, with their quills in their hands
And they drink their black coffee like wine
But no words they write can turn back the pages
When you were the measure of time

This is my lost lover's waltz
Dancing like lovers do
This is my lost lover's, lover's lost waltz
That I never danced with you

They say Paris is magikc
They say Paris is the city of love
And I love all my memories of Baudelaire nights
And mornings with you dressed in sunlight

Alone on the dance floor at midnight
Candles beginning to fade
The mirrors are empty they won't show my face
Shadows in silent parade
And locking the doors as I make my way home
Throught the empty streets crowded too soon
Following footsteps that lead ever onwards
Stepping in time with the moon

This is my lost lover's waltz
Dancing like lovers do
This is my lost lover's, lover's lost waltz
That I never danced with you