Sag Harbot, by Joe Garland

Capo: 2: G   C   G   D  D7,  G   C   G   D  G

I was a little early   /   So I headed to the pier
Heard a distant      boat’s bell
I checked my watch    /   Realized the time was near
For our meeting at the American Hotel

It’s quiet in September   /   Mostly locals are in town
No back-up     at Division    and Bay
Sweaters over shorts   /   Things very much slowed down
My only thought was convincing her to stay

She was five minutes late   /   Kiss on the cheek, she smiled
As we left, I held her hand
She laughed at the sea gulls   /   She hadn’t seen one in a while
She said, “I hope you’ll understand”.

C  I said, “We can do that later
G  “Right now let’s not talk”
C  /   D  We headed for what had been our old café
C  Each step echoed loudly
G  On our quarter-mile walk
C  /  D  G  I still didn’t know what I would say.

Silently we strolled    /   A piano playing scales
On the second floor of a house across the way
To our left we could hear   /   The fluttering of sails
Of boats that were bobbing in the bay

As we reached the corner   /   Her hand tightened its grip
As I opened that old café’s door
We sat at a round table   /   I asked about her trip
She paused, said “I can’t take it anymore”

Sag

“As I rode out on the jitney   /   “It gave me time to think
“You were a fool for letting me move on
“You said you weren’t ready  /  For your universe to shrink
“Now you tell me you were wrong”

I was taken aback/ By the venom in her voice
More so by the fact that it was true
I’d made a lot of damn ones   /   But that was my worst choice
I feared there was nothing I could do

“Look I was an asshole   /   “And, yeah, a fool as well
“And I regretted my words before they were said
“But I own each one of them   /   “More than I can tell
“What a waste, I could have been with you instead”

“I can’t say I’m a changed man  /  Though perhaps I’ve seen the light
“And hope to be blinded by you
“Give me a chance  /  I’ll try to make things right
“And we can have a universe of two”

When we finished eating  /  I asked her if she’d stay
“No”, she said, “I’m Amaganset bound
“But please come meet me  /  Tomorrow, say, mid-day
“I’ll tell you if I’d like to stick around
“Whether I’d like to stick around.”