Still Life With Llamas Album Cover
SONGS

  1. Still Life with Llamas (6:10): listen / lyrics / comments
  2. The Grey Garden (3:52).......: listen / lyrics / comments
  3. Face To Face (4:08)..........: listen / lyrics / comments
  4. Slave To Nothing (3:03)......: listen / lyrics / comments
  5. Our Perfect Life (4:13)......: listen / lyrics / comments
  6. My Blue Car (5:58)...........: listen / lyrics / comments
  7. The Question (5:07)..........: listen / lyrics / comments
  8. Green Tinted Glasses (4:13)..: listen / lyrics / comments
  9. Becky's Song (4:46)..........: listen / lyrics / comments
 10. A Girl Like That (4:30)......: listen / lyrics / comments

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Still Life With Llamas (6:10) (listen to a sample)

Music and lyrics by Daniel Lewis
 
Suddenly we have time
We can think about each other
When I lie awake at night
Thoughts of you sweep through my mind
This is the time you're mine
This is time we have together
Time to cry, time to sigh
Or say whatever comes to mind
God knows I tried
I tried so hard to flee from their lies
They put on their disguise
I put on mine and looked in your eyes

And so I came to know
This is only one short sequence
And the rage that burns below
Will extinguish its existence
Take yourself away
I have nothing left to lean on
Just a second of a day
Or maybe it's an eon

You rescued me
You touched my heart and fell through my dreams
We could not be so free
This simple life can be all it seems

A sadness to describe
She waits for his sweet returning
She knows that he's alive
But she doesn't see the crescent
She knows that he'll be gone
But only for one moment
He knows that she will wait
But only for one moment

I'd give all I could find
Or I'd hold it in my mind
Yet instead I go to you
As if it was no simple learning
You slowly blink your eye
Thinking you just might change time
Yet I see myself in line
Promised, sterile, miracle life
I give in my assent
There's nothing more for me here
They give me one event
I think I'd like to see you

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

I wrote this song some years ago. The end of the summer of 1990. I had just graduated from college - I was in the middle of my second relationship and basically trying to forget my first (something I continuously fail at). So is the song about either of those relationships? Yes. And no. It's about both or neither really. Actually, in college I took this class, "Cinema as an Art Form." I took it because it was a 'gut' - an easy A - or B if you really didn't study at all. We all called it Cinema as a Gut Form, or Cine-gut for short. We were required to watch lots of... well, movies. As it turned out, I ended up seeing a couple of gems that I never would have seen had I not tried to "go for the easy grade." One of those gems was a French film called La Jetee. A science fiction flick as it turns out; one that really caught my attention. It was filmed in black and white and done in still pictures with a narrator - no motion photography at all except one scene: the protagonist's lover blinking her eye. What's the plot? Quick synopsis: A boy waiting with his family at an airport departure gate sees a man gunned down in cold blood. Fast forward to the present. Boy is now a man living underground after the nuclear holocaust. The current powers that be choose him to go on a mission back in time to find out a way for them to survive as the human race is slowly dying. He is sent back in time where he meets a woman and falls in love with her. He ends up finding a kind of sanctuary for his people in the future with the next evolution of the human race (bodiless, emotionless, kind of purely mental beings). They agree to save the human race and they ask him if he wants to stay. He says no - send me back to the past to the woman I love. They do, but the powers that be who first sent him back don't like him escaping so they send their own agent back to kill him and they do - at the airport departure gate where he as a young boy is waiting with his family. He witnessed his own death. I thought 'Woah... What a cool movie! And I will probably never ever see it or hear about it ever again. And no one else will ever really know about it either.' Well, I'm sure the plot sounds familiar to you. Sure enough, seven years after the 'Gut' class, Terry Gilliam released 12 Monkeys based on... you guessed it... La Jetee. At least everyone else got to see the concept - but the original black and white still-photo execution is still the best. Anyway, to make a long winded story even more monotonous, Still Life With Llamas is about La Jetee. I don't know why I chose to write about that movie but I did.

If you're wondering about the title "Still Life With Llamas"... As a I said, I was in the middle of my second relationship... My new girlfriend loved the author Tom Robbins. Her favorite book by him was "Still Life With Woodpecker." My pet name for her (she had just spent the last 2 years in Ecuador) Llamacita. A la Still life With Llamas.
.
Commentary from Benjamin:

I did not know any of Daniel's story until he sent me his comments for the website. I come at this from a different perspective. We originally recorded this song in 1994 on an unreleased album, 4 years after Daniel wrote it, and it has always been one of my favorites. I find it haunting and the lyrics evocative. To me, it is about two people attempting to discover what is real about each other, both drawn together and recoiling at the same time. In the end, I find it hopeful, but not assured. As my 9th grade Latin teacher once wrote in his comments on my performance in his class: 'I am optimistic about his future, but guarded.'
The Grey Garden (3:52) (listen to a sample)

Music and lyrics by Daniel Lewis
 
A red sky fading, twilight spreads through the land
An end to the hating, a gift of a useless man

And you know that it's slow, and so it goes
And it's old, and it's cold, and so it goes

You must be joking
Some things are beyond your concern
I should be laughing
One day I'll get my turn

And I know that it's slow, and so it goes
And it's old, and it's cold, and so it goes

One night a dream ago
You said hold me close
Then I woke up in this empty bed
And I never knew why you fled and
I must be sinking

And I know that it's slow, and so it goes
And it's old, and it's cold, and so it goes

This should be simple
A garden on a cloudy day
You won't mind waiting
While I put my emotions on display

And you know that it's slow, and so it goes
And it's old, and it's cold, and so it goes

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

I also wrote this song some years ago. Christmas 1989. My first girlfriend of two years had left me three months before and I missed her more than you could possibly imagine. Fortunately, she didn't even remember my name. Funny how that works out. It's rather ironic actually, because in leaving me, she turned me into the person she always needed me to be in order for her to stay. One of life's little jokes, I guess. One time, in the waning days of our relationship, we went and had a picnic at one of the Pavilion Gardens at the University of Virginia, where we both went to school. The sky was very overcast and grey, and the garden, though colorful enough, just seemed kind of still and lifeless to me. That day symbolizes the end of our relationship, I guess. I tried to imagine going back there to tell her how I felt and how I still needed her, but I knew she wouldn't care. The Grey Garden is about that place.

Incidentally, the picture on The Grey Garden lyrics page in the CD booklet is an actual picture of the actual garden that we were at on that day. It literally is The Grey Garden.
.
Commentary from Benjamin:

This song, also, was originally recorded on an unreleased album, this time in 1990, soon after Daniel finished it. I must say that while recording it, he worked me pretty hard on the vocals, especially the "and so it goes" parts. I hope we achieved his vision for this piece - I am pleased with it, regardless.
Face To Face (4:08) (listen to a sample)

Music and lyrics by Daniel Lewis
 
You say you want a lover all the time
You say that you've got nothing else in mind
But you and I come face to face, each night I lie awake
I think I'm going sane, this time a little change

You say that this was how it's meant to be
You think of nothing but your sanctity
But I don't mind a time of time, of life, of giving love
I think I'm going sane, this time a little change

You say you've just about had your fill
Negotiations carried on with skill
But you've got me in time, you've got this time it's on your line

You think you've got them all in your sway
You can't be bothered with those lesser days
But I don't mind a time of time, of life, of giving love
I think I'm going sane, this time a little change

You say you want a lover all the time
You say that you have nothing else in mind
You say that this was how it's meant to be
You think of nothing but your sanctity
You think you've got them all in your sway
You can't be bothered with your lesser days
But you and I come face to face, each night I lie awake
I think I'm going sane, this time a little change

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

After some of the pain of loss had gone away and I'd moved into more of a vague acceptance state, I began to wonder what my next girlfriend might be like. What would be all the little foibles and extraneous qualities about her that might hold us together or keep us apart? I wrote a song about it - still being very much in the shadow of my original relationship.
Commentary from Benjamin:

This is the closest thing to a rock n' roll song we have on this album. I am satisfied with it, and it's a good song, but I feel it sounds good in spite of my ability to sing it, rather than because of it. Listen and let us know what you think.
Slave To Nothing (3:03) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

You're coming around
Got yourself off the ground
I guess you think that now you've got it all down
But do you know where you're going to?
Do you even care?

People like you want to be free
Free to spend your life in front of your TV
You're not going anywhere
But you're free not to care

A slave to nothing
You thinks it's fine, if you control your body
But sell your mind
Don't you see that nowhere is no place to be

Your pocket's are stuffed
With the things you bought
But when's the last time you had an original thought?
A slave to nothing
That's what you are
Can't you see?
That a slave to nothing is a slave to all
Is that what you call free?

Your most important thing by far
Is that blue piece of crap you call a car
You're the meeting place of the forces around you
The zero of the storms inside your soul

People like you
Want to be free, but freedom from
Is not freedom to be
The presence of joy and the absence of pain
Are not, not the same

A slave to nothing
Why can't you see
That you're a slave to your friends
And what they want you to be
A slave to nothing is a slave to all
Is that what you call free?

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

This is the first song I ever let Ben write the lyrics to. Again, 1990. And it was mainly because I was feeling too lazy to write them myself. Don't get me wrong - I love Ben's lyrics. More than my own in some cases. It's just that that wasn't always so. I was trying to get a Bruce Springsteen "10th Avenue Freeze Out" type sound in this song - hence the organ in the back. I was also listening to Kim Carnes a lot (you remember: "Bette Davis Eyes"). If you can see it, this tune is Bruce meets Kim. They probably hate each other.
Commentary from Benjamin:

Another early song, from 1989 actually, this tune is about one of my pet peeves in life: people with no purpose except to satisfy the expectations of others. Slave to Nothing is meant in both ways: 1) if you are a slave to others' opinions, you are a slave to the nothingness that is their ephemeral expectations, and 2) if you have no passions in life that you are a slave to, then you are a slave to all, to the vacuum. Credit to the author Ayn Rand for the concept that lead me to the 'zero of the storms inside your soul' - that line is modeled off a description of the Mr. Thompson character in her novel Atlas Shrugged. I'll stop sermonizing now.

Later Addendum:

I do have one regret when it comes to this song. The original line leading into the refrain was

        "The most important thing to you
        is what the world thinks of what you do"

I let Daniel talk me into changing it to make reference to a blue car as a tie-in to "My Blue Car", a later song on the album. That was a mistake - I think the change cheapens the message by inserting comic relief. If we ever re-do this one, I'm putting the original lyric back in.
Our Perfect Life (4:13) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

I look up as you walk in
You tell me that you're back again
I say that's great, it's been so long
You tell me that you've been so wrong

I take your hand and touch your face
You take me in your soft embrace
I run my fingers through your hair
If we're in love why can't I care?

Our perfect life's a dream to me
There's nothing more that I could need
But what's a dream when you can't sleep?
It's just a memory to keep

I love the thought of loving you
I love the things we ought to do
I love the way we'll live as one
I love the things we should have done

You tried to leave, you don't know why
You couldn't leave behind the lie
We both believe what we won't say
Cannot be true, and so we stay

Our perfect life's a dream to me
There's nothing more that I could need
I love the time we plan to spend
If I could only comprehend
What I can't bring myself to do
To love more than the thought of you

Our perfect life's a dream to me
But what's a dream when you can't sleep?

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

I stumbled on this tune quite by accident. But once I hit it, it only took a day to write. I really dig (as my friend put it) the Cure-like keyboards in the background. Total 80's tune. What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's. Ben's lyrics match the mood of the song perfectly. This was the first song we laid down vocals on and we really started experimenting with the backup vocals (something that was entirely new to us - both in actually being able to do them from a technical standpoint, and actually doing them). I think of all the songs on the album, the backup vocals on this tune really shine and make the song much more than the sum of its parts. (I think I got that from a corporate email somewhere).
.
Commentary from Benjamin:

This is for those times that you look at your significant other and ask: do I love you in reality, or in principle only? It's about loving the idea of someone rather than the actual person.  I think the three vocal tracks we laid down on the refrains came out really well and blend nicely. It's really all me singing. I think we need some Pink Floyd women or Lynyrd Skynyrd backup singers for the next album, but this one worked pretty well.
My Blue Car (5:58) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

I used to be the kind of guy
That girls would never look at twice
I used to be have the kind of face
That other fella's loved to hate
But then one day I bought me a blue car

See me drive around the town
See me cruisin' up and down
All the girls know I'm around
But the're too shy to talk to me
All the guys are turnin' green
Cause they know I'm the one to beat
But they know they can't compete
With a man the likes of me
Watch me sitting at the light
See the girl, see her sitting there
She's afraid to turn her head
My blue car, it knock's 'em dead

My blue car, it's changed my life
Now no guy let's me near his wife
Now they know I've got the style
To drive their little women wild
Because I'm the guy drivin' the blue car

See me drive around the town
See me cruisin' up and down
All the girls know I'm around
But the're too shy to talk to me
All the guys are turnin' green
Cause they know I'm the one to beat
But they know they can't compete
With a man the likes of me
Watch me sitting at the light
See the girl, see her sitting there
She's afraid to turn her head
My blue car, it knock's 'em dead

My blue car, it looks so fine
Waiting in the drive thru line

When I pull up to the first window
I always tell 'em it's to go
And they say there's that guy drivin' the blue car

See me drive around the town
See me cruisin' up and down
All the girls know I'm around
But the're too shy to talk to me
All the guys are turnin' green
Cause they know I'm the one to beat
But they know they can't compete
With a man the likes of me
My blue car looks good at night
My blue car, my blue car
It looks so good at night
My blue car, my blue car

See me drive around the town
See me cruisin' up and down
All the girls know I'm around
But the're too shy to talk to me
All the guys are turnin' green
'Cause they that know I'm the one to beat
But they know they can't compete
With a man the likes of me
My blue car looks good at noon
My blue car, my blue car
Lord it makes the ladies swoon
My blue car, my blue car

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

One of my favorite songs of all time has always been "My Guy." I also love the song "Swingin' Party" by The Replacements. Both of those songs use the exact same chord progression as this song, and if you think about it, this chord progression even shows up in Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite." I knew I had to write my own take on this chord progression. I laid down the guitar part and baseline and then began trying to figure out a good backdrop part to go with it. I had never used a horn section in any of my songs before and had always wanted to incorporate one. I tried it just for S's and G's and it sounded phenomenal. I couldn't believe how cool it was. I sent it off to Ben and he had the same thought I did - the horns were great - but they made the song sound kind of 'campy' - in a big-band crooner/serenader kind of way. So I gave the go ahead to camp it up. I love his concept: A total loser who buys a blue car and is still a total loser - he just doesn't know it anymore. I also love the total Sinatra/lounge singer impression he renders for the song. It works perfectly.
.
Commentary from Benjamin:

I drive a blue car, so I guess Daniel is being kind in not directly calling me a loser. In fact, right after we released the album I bought a new blue car to replace my old blue car, and I know the women really want me now, unlike that loser in the song who only thinks the women want him.

Actually, buying the new blue car was rather traumatic - the car I got rid of was the first car I ever owned, a 1988 Mazda MX6. The new one was a Subaru Forester. Both were quirky little cars that suit my personality.

The concept for this dates back to a concept Daniel and I and a few friends bandied about in high-school. It's not original, but it was new to us: wrap yourself in a blanket of fantasy, which we called a 'fantasy shield', and then believe what you want. You're incredibly handsome; all the women are secretly in love with you; all the guys are jealous of you, etc. The only thing that could break your shield was an overt act by one of the women on whom you projected your fantasy. You can believe whatever you want unless one of them actually walks up to you and says 'I hate you.' So, never have any contact and your fantasy shield is intact forever. This song is a story of a guy with an intact shield.
The Question (5:07) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

We've known for a while now
That we've been drifting down
Time has failed to be our friend
It's hard to believe we may be nearing an end
I'd like to be feeling some pain
It would make me feel alive again
And I will be there, always, if you want me to be
And I will always, show you, what you're needing to see
I remember, a moment, that fills me with pride
When I promised you, to stay by your side

Love is not, a moment in time
It's a fast flowing river that sweeps you aside
Do you remember, when we made the choice
There's was nothing more sacred
Than the sound of your voice
And we learned how good love can feel
I never felt closer to something so real
So can we reach out, hold it, hold on to our past
And make it carry, forward, build it to last
Or must we let go, move on, and build something new
You know I'd give all, to build it with you

We, will always be together, if you want us to be
I don't know, what's in your heart
But the distance between us shouldn't keep us apart
If you can tell me, what's on your mind
I don't know for sure if it's love that we'll find
Hold me, please hold me, and don't let me go
Your touch will tell me what I already know
There's a brand new, beginning, we can begin at the end
I ask you, beg you, are we lovers or friends

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

This song used to be called The Swan and it used to have my lyrics on it. That's pretty much all I'll say about it.
Commentary from Benjamin:

Since Daniel does not want to discuss the old lyrics, I'll stay away from that one and rant on ceaselessly about the new ones.

I love this song actually - I like the piano - I like the guitar parts - I like the way the vocals came out. Thanks to Daniel for forcing me to sing it rather than whisper it, which I was initially inclined to do.

This is about recapturing the spark - those times when you look at your significant other and say 'I like you; we're friends, but is there anything more there after all this time?' Eventually, the spark of new love, of new adventures together, of excitement and continual lust disappears from a relationship (at least that's my theory). That's not necessarily a reason to end it - there can be a different type of love in the easy contentment that can follow. But make sure that you don't end up staying with someone just because you're comfortable - make sure there's still something there. The Question is 'are we lovers or friends?'

Later Addendum:

As this song has aged (in my mind, anyway) over the years, there is one thing that grates on me a little that I would change if we ever have occasion to redo it. The line:

        "And I will always, show you,
        what you're needing to see"

is grammatically incorrect. "Needing to see"? What was I thinking? It should be simply "what you need to see." I know, I know, pop music is not necessarily the place where one shows off one's grammar skills, but as you might have noticed, there is a distinct lack of slang in our songs, and I see no need to be unnecessarily grammatically incorrect. If you are going to deliberately misuse language, it should be to make a point or fit within the lines of some kind of theme, not simply because you don't know how to compose a grammatically correct sentence. Mr Gula and Mr Blood are both spinnig in their graves (and why is it most of my really precise high school teachers are already dead, anyway?).
Green Tinted Glasses (4:13) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

I got home late last night
Forgot to change that light
Guess I forgot where I was
Stood there on the porch and tried
To figure out why I'd lied
Need to do better than because

There's no reason for me to be leavin' but
I don't know where we go from here
I don't know where we go from here
There's no reason for me to be leavin' but
I don't know where we go from here

The grass is greener through
Green-tinted glasses but
Without a mirror around
It's hard to know/If it's the glasses your wearing or
Or just the color of the ground
Everything I have is good
And everything I don't is good
But is there better to be found

REFRAIN

It's always so easy
Just to say I'm bored
But the fact is I'm not
It's always so easy
Just to say we're over
But the fact is we're not
It's always so easy
Just to say I love you
And the fact is I do

REFRAIN

The grass is greener through
Green-tinted glasses but
Without a mirror around
It's hard to know
If it's the glasses your wearing or
Or just the color of the ground

REFRAIN

Unopened presents
Are always the best ones and
There's always more to be found
But sometimes it's better
to find some old paper
And wrap up what's already around
The grass may be greener through
Green-tinted glasses but
I still don't know the color of the ground

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

This song is the "Make It Me" of the album. The song that didn't sound that great as just music, and didn't sound that great as just lyrics, but combined, they make this song one of my all-time favorites. Plus it has a cool funky baseline.
Commentary from Benjamin:

Unlike "Make It Me" (from our Petroglyph album), this song is not just a relatively mindless collection of words (not including the first verse) that happen to go with the music (look, I wrote the lyrics to "Make It Me" so I can say that). But I like this one also. It does have a funky baseline.

This is about those feelings we all have when we are deep in a long term relationship. After a while, you begin to ask yourself if this is the best you can do? Is there something better you should be going after? Even when things are going well, you can doubt and wonder, and see things that look as good or better on the surface than what you've got. Just remember that there are several ways that the grass can look greener. This song adresses two of them: either it is greener, or perhaps the glasses you're wearing are tinted a little green by your attitude and perspective. Try to take those glasses off and look at everything as objectively as possible before you decide to mess up your life.
Becky's Song (4:46) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

I know a girl who sits alone
She wants her life to be her own
She refused to sin so she can't atone
Think of the things she could have known

Life is more than your comfort zone
Life is more than your comfort zone

Becky I know that there's more inside
More of you that you try to hide
Becky don't live in black and white
It's time to colorize your life

Follow your heart or follow your head
Either one is a better bet
Both will give a brand new voice
Following fear is not the only choice

Life is more than your comfort zone
Life is more than your comfort zone

I try to guess about your past
You learned that things don't always last
But just because you feel they should
Doesn't mean it wasn't good

Life is more than your comfort zone
Life is more than your comfort zone

REFRAIN

Skip the gym and catch the show
See how fast your car will go
Talk to someone you don't know
It's OK to take it slow

Life is more than your comfort zone
Life is more than your comfort zone

REFRAIN

Becky they're still some good ones left
But don't just sit and hold your breath
You're feeling like you don't know how
But time is on your side for now
Becky it's good to be alive
Live your life before you die

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

My attempt at a country song. I like the piano solo. I find the lyrics mildly amusing, and would probably find them more so if I knew the aforementioned 'Becky'.
Commentary from Benjamin:

My apologies to Daniel - usually my lyrics are pretty accessible to him, but these are really between me and Becky, and anyone else who knows their own Becky.

I did not think I would ever write a song about someone I knew, so Becky, if you figure out this is about you, I am sorry and I hope I did not piss you off or make you sad. I mean it only in a positive way. You have done well in life, but you could do so much more. You are a remarkable person.
A Girl Like That (4:30) (listen to a sample)

Music by Daniel Lewis
Lyrics by Benjamin Hatfield

First she's coming and then she tells me
She can't go without her hat
Search all night and never find it
What can you do with a girl like that

She is a little bit funny sometimes
There's more to her than meets the eye
She gets a little bit crazy sometimes
I never know just what she'll try
But life is a little bit better around her
Time moves a little bit slower by
When she lays upon my shoulder
Never lets me see her cry

She takes all I have to give
But gives me back a little more
She takes all I have to give
But always evens up the score
She is all that I can handle
She is more than I can take
She is like a roman candle
Sitting on my birthday cake

She is a little bit funny sometimes
There's more to her than meets the eye
She gets a little bit crazy sometimes
I never know just what she'll try
But life is a little bit better around her
Time moves a little bit slower by
When she lays upon my shoulder
Never lets me see her cry

Sometimes when we're out with friends
She laughs and talks the night away
Sometimes when we're all alone
She won't speak at all for days
But when she whispers that she loves me
I cannot believe my ears
When she tells that she needs me
Sweetest words I'll ever hear

She is a little bit funny sometimes
There's more to her than meets the eye
She gets a little bit crazy sometimes
I never know just what she'll try
But life is a little bit better around her
Time moves a little bit slower by
When she lays upon my shoulder
Never lets me see her cry

She is like an ice cream parlor
Always something new to try
Though I want to understand she
Always tells me not to try
Won't forget when I first met her
Blown away she knocked me flat
She said I think you'll be the one
Now what can you do with a girl like that

She is a little bit funny sometimes
There's more to her than meets the eye
She gets a little bit crazy sometimes
I never know just what she'll try
Light is a little bit brighter around her
Time moves a little bit slower by
She is like a laundromat
Waiting for your clothes to dry
She's a movie that's never over
She's a play that never ends
She won't tell me where she comes from
She won't let me meet her friends
She is more than I could hope for
She is more than I deserve
It's a miracle that I found her
Can't believe I had the nerve
I went out alone tonight
She stayed home to groom the cat
We don't even have a pet
What can you do with a girl like that

(c) Ingram Music LLC, All Rights Reserved
Commentary from Daniel:

Every once in a long while I actually manage to pull a really great song out of my ass. This is one of those times. I don't know how, but this song came to me with less than 4 days to go before final recording. Great job by Ben in coming up with such cool lyrics on such short notice. This is another tribute to the 80's. It's my FYC song. If you don't know what FYC means then it wouldn't mean much to you anyway. I also told Ben I wanted him to 'talk' the refrains 'just like Lou Reed.' I beat him severely trying to get him to be more Lou-Reed-like in his talking. He was ready to kill me by the final take, but in the end I think it was definitely worth it.
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Commentary from Benjamin:

I think I may still kill him; if only to avoid admitting it was worth it to record it about two billion times.

The lyrics describe a conception I had of someone who you could love and it would never grow stale. Someone who would always surprise you. In the musical Chess (by those ABBA guys and Tim Rice), there is a song called 'Heaven Help My Heart' (mild FM radio hit from the 80's) where the character Florence (Elaine Paige in the London cast) sings 'One of these days/and it won't be long/he'll know more about me than he should/all my dreams will be understood/no surprise/nothing more to learn from the look in my eyes.' What if that did not have to be true? That person would probably drive you crazy and you couldn't stay with him or her for any length of time, but that's the concept behind A Girl Like That.
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