There’s a song I heard years ago, a nasty breakup song I think, and the kicker goes something like this:
I can’t find any reference online to this lyric, and I can’t remember any of the rest of the song. Does this ring a bell for anyone else?
If you search for a subset of your posted lyrics, you find a Surfjan Stevens song called The Only Thing
Thanks! I found that result, but it’s definitely not the song I’m thinking of. That song is sweet and breathy and chill. The song I’m thinking of is kind of rockabilly, a little Robert Earl Keen and a little Pogues, real fast and funny/angry. I think it might be by Luther Wright and the Wrongs (a weird Canadian band best known for their bluegrass cover of The Wall), but I can’t find their lyrics anywhere.
“When he saw what he had done,
He tore his eyes out, one by one.
A tragic end for a loyal son
Who loved his mother”
– Tom Lerher, Oedipus Rex
“He took the rhinestone barrette from her hair
And put out both his eyes
And as soon as he had put out both his eyes
He kind of wished he hadn’t.”
– P.D.Q. Bach, Oedipus Tex
Thanks, but neither of those are it. Late last night I woke up and think I remembered. When I was a teenager there was a local folk singer I adored, Joe Williams. I’m pretty sure this was a lyric from a song he wrote. Since he was pretty much only a local musician, no wonder I can’t find it online. (here’s an example of his songs, if anyone cares.)