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.