What I Mean
“Come on spring, wake me up”
Song Lyric
Summer’s gone I hardly even noticed
My head was stuck so far inside this screen
Typing so damn fast, saying nothing that will last
Well anyway, like you know what I mean
Fall was just a wall away outside I heard my daughter playin’
Daddy won’t you come to smell the leaves
Just another minute I will come and jump right in it
But that minute only happened in my dreams
CHORUS:
So I break all these mirrors and run from myself
Put Walden by Thoreau back high on the shelf
Maybe tomorrow when I’ve lied enough
The river will wash me by calling my bluff
And I’ll be free
If it snowed well I don’t know it’s been all about the IPO
Clicking at the tangles in my head
Now my life’s meal to go, when I get through I just don’t know
If you will still be waiting in my bed
CHORUS
Come on spring wake me up, shock my heart and fill my cup
With all that I’ve surrendered of my soul
All my seasons wasted have I thrown them away
Or just misplaced them?
You may be my last and only chance to know
What I mean
You may be my last and only chance to know
What I mean
© DNR Records / Tom Acousti 1992 “all rights reserved”
Summer’s gone I hardly even noticed
My head was stuck so far inside this screen
Typing so damn fast, saying nothing that will last
Well anyway, like you know what I mean
Fall was just a wall away outside I heard my daughter playin’
Daddy won’t you come to smell the leaves
Just another minute I will come and jump right in it
But that minute only happened in my dreams
CHORUS:
So I break all these mirrors and run from myself
Put Walden by Thoreau back high on the shelf
Maybe tomorrow when I’ve lied enough
The river will wash me by calling my bluff
And I’ll be free
If it snowed well I don’t know it’s been all about the IPO
Clicking at the tangles in my head
Now my life’s meal to go, when I get through I just don’t know
If you will still be waiting in my bed
CHORUS
Come on spring wake me up, shock my heart and fill my cup
With all that I’ve surrendered of my soul
All my seasons wasted have I thrown them away
Or just misplaced them?
You may be my last and only chance to know
What I mean
You may be my last and only chance to know
What I mean
© DNR Records / Tom Acousti 1992 “all rights reserved”
About the Song
After many years of touring, I moved to Nashville hoping to tour less and write and produce more. Ten years later, still in Nashville, I found myself juggling a family, home, investment property, and a high stress database developer job. “Typing so damned fast, saying nothing that will last.”
The writing and recording continued in whatever time could be found, producing some good work, but never true momentum. The resulting overload turned out to be just another version of the standard American soul-sucking grind… and this song was written from that place, between deadlines and meals-to-go.
This was written on guitar and, for years, performed as a solo piece, fingerpicking on acoustic guitar. When Diane added harmony and Robby Coffin a second guitar, the song had a workout performing it often in Maine’s intimate live settings for years.
About the Recording
The recording is based on tracks from an old unreleased session we did at Little Hollywood in East Nashville. The only things harvested from that were bass, by Lance Hoppen, and some congas by Tom Larson that were never meant to be kept. During tracking, his job was to keep us in time with no click. After those tracks sat on the shelf for years, and after the GFF pandemic-pivot from venue to studio, we got serious about capturing that trio energy while also adding piano, synth, and drums.
Tom Larsen is a great player on many Nashville recordings as is Lance Hoppen, who you will know as a member of the band, Orleans. So it was an easy decision to pull this out of mothballs and re-produce it including new lead vocals.
Final touches were added when Robby Coffin recorded an elegant acoustic guitar part and Diane Acousti sang a beautiful harmony.