What I Wouldn't Give

Who has not been filled with hopes of all shapes and sizes during the past twelve-plus months given our Year Of COVID and given the tensions surrounding the elections in November of 2020?  This is a song of wishes.  

Again, I had stellar assistance putting this recording together.  This is the thirty-eighth of my songs that Jim Robeson has had a hand in producing in the past twenty-one years.  I got to reconnect with my high school classmate Nick Costa.  And two members of the venerable Seldom Scene* contributed.  (I think you will agree that Fred Travers and Ron Stewart have a keen sense of how to complement one another’s playing!)  I have been very lucky to call on these four outstanding musicians for accompaniment.  

 (* The Seldom Scene’s website notes that the original lineup got together in 1971.  Happy Fiftieth Anniversary, guys!)  

© 2021, Steven E. Cutts  
recorded and mixed by Jim Robeson  

Steve, guitar and vocal  
Nick Costa, drums  
Jim Robeson, bass  
Ron Stewart, fiddle  
Fred Travers, dobro  


Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a tonic that lifted my spirits --     

for a change of direction that led to a happier time –     

for a day to go by when I didn’t feel restless or anxious, adrift out to sea all alone.  

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have news with some promising signs –  

to have decency counted as something we all can rely on –  

to hear voices of kindness to drown out the ones that malign –  

to be guarded by angels instead of assaulted by devils with mischief in mind.  

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see a glimmer of hopefulness shine.  

And what I wouldn’t give for a miracle cure for what ails us --           

to see smiles take the place of the tears for the loved ones we’ve lost –  

to feel reassured once again by the hand of a friend on my shoulder when hugging hello,  

and to feel that affection does not have to come at a cost –  

to read your expression without having most of it hidden;  

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to learn more than your eyes have to say.  

And what I wouldn’t give for some happy disruption to banish the boredom and  

                        dim the dysfunction --  

to dress to the nines for a meal in a crowded café.  

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to dress to the nines for a meal in a crowded café.  

And what I wouldn’t give to have the hard times just all fade away.