Key of Zed, the duo of Mike Charko and Keith Shields, has just released a new original single. For fans of Blue Rodeo and a few other bands, you will recognize the references to a few other songs in the lyrics. See how many you can catch. (At a later date I will release an annotated version of the lyrics that will identify the references.) The story of this song is that the woman in the Blue Rodeo song “Try” is now older and more introspective and the lyrics are her answer to the man who said those words to her.
The Singer and You
(Lyrics and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields; copyright SOCAN)
Blue Rodeo on the stereo
(And) teardrops in my eyes
Reminding me of five days in May
And how I said I’d try
Was it just bad timing?
Or something I should have done?
That keeps me looking through the crack in the window
And wishing for the sun
And the singer and you and the devil too
They want to tell me what I should do
They want to tell me what I should do
Right is right and wrong is wrong
With every move I made
I couldn’t be what you wanted me to be
Every time you played
Old songs, rehearsed to a tee
Left no room to breathe
And the spirits of tunes – left unsung
Like the ghosts in me
And the singer and you and the devil too
They want to tell me what I should do
They want to tell me what I should do
Guitar solo:
Bridge:
Bop shoo bop bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop bop bop bop she bop
My solo written by you
Was singing the blues
How could I get the rhythm from you?
There’s nothing left to do
Rising star or wounded heart?
Were you teaching me to fly?
Could the bad inside of me
Really be the lie?
And the singer and you and the devil too
They want to tell me what I should do
They want to tell me the things that I should do
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop
Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop