Things - Loudon Wainwright III

Everything I say to you seems to come out all wrong

So I’ll stop speaking sentences, instead I’ll sing a song

And the sound of my voice might soothe that thing in you

That can’t believe the words I speak or what I say is true

There’s no way to convince someone who won’t be brought around

By talking, it’s noisy scene, while singing’s more a sound

So when I say I love you it’s just aching I’ve said

Off my tongue, out of my mouth, laid up in my head

But when I say I love you that’s a different thing

Nothing smart, just some guts and heart since I mean what I say

When I sing I do something it’s not a thing I try

So it sounds believable — I cannot sing a lie

This song’s almost over, it’s short, I’m almost through

I’m sorry for some sentences — I said what I told you

One says stuff to anyone, but you are another thing

If this feels familiar it’s because of thee I sing