Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Mike Mangione - You Don't Wanna Leave

The dance continues as the poet intones over a train rhythm “big wheels lay you down in the chords of another town.” The story seems to be about the life an artist is forced to live, and the flight of a lover looking for the next song as the narrator pleads “you don’t wanna leave”. Lots of great lines here. “When I heard that he left her I asked, Robbie did you hear her sing?” Like Robbie could have stopped her. But a poet is like that – dreaming of the unattainable. “There’s a kiss on my cheek and it burns, so I leave it there.” The chorus has the answer to all life’s questions, “if that mocking bird don’t care for a single word, you’ll just change your melody.” Mike Mangione