Trick of the Light
For Carly Simon
“… on the dance floor she seemed to be the only one completely alive. It was a trick of the light that followed one person around. Joe had seen the quality before; it was rare, but not unknown.
Every time we say good-bye…. Porter had written an intimate ballad…. “
— Martin Cruz Smith, Stallion Gate, Ch. 2
“At night I heard God
whisper lullabyes
While Daddy next door
whistled whisky tunes
And sometimes
when I wanted,
they would harmonize
There was nothing
those two couldn’t do
……………………………………………
Then one night Daddy died
and went to Heaven
And God came down to earth
and slipped away
I pretended not to notice
I’d been abandoned
But no-one sang the night
into the day
And later night time songs
came back again
But the singers don’t compare
with those I knew
And I never figured out
where God and Daddy went
But there was nothing
those two couldn’t do”
— Carly Simon,
“Embrace Me, You Child”