Folk insomnia

After just one full spin and an insomniac perusal of the (hand-annotated) lyric sheet, I Will Love You At All is already paying dividends. The song "Home" has just rendered obsolete a short story I've been meaning to write, because it sums up exactly the feeling of going back to your home town for Christmas:

I did what everyone else does
I drifted back to my hometown
With my restless heart kept hidden
Deep within my chest I knew
They'd have to take me back again

Put on my shoes to search for clues
But you'll never find them there
Nor with the mates from your old class
Gathered after midnight mass
Round the bar in the predawn hours of Christmas morning

They thought I'd outgrown them
They could read it on my face
I wanted to leave but my face...
Had an appointment to keep
with the fist of some young freak
That's why I wear this scar beneath my eye

And how about this from "Folk Insomnia":

What have I learned?
Don't walk in front of cars or behind horses
Cats don't drink milk out of flying saucers
Green means go, yellow go faster
Red means stop or financial disaster

The album got a great review in the Herald this weekend, and it was a treat to see the man himself for a quick Newtown beer today.