THE GIRL WHO CAME BEFORE
They say the truth will come to you just before the dawn
And he’s going to tell you about someone who would defy
Almost any soap opera or any popular song.
Now, he know she hated him but he loved her all the same.
Yes, she was the love of his life—
The girl who came before.
When they used to ride to school, she’d give Mickey and Hank a lot of talk
Then she’d turn to him and say, “Why don’t you get out and walk?”
Yes, he really loved her and wanted to make her his,
But she said all he could so was write silly poems and consume a bottle of wine
It’s about a woman who couldn’t stand him;
The girl who came before.
But then at Jimmy’s wedding, she treated him like he was almost human.
She said he wrote like Norman Mailer and he talked like Harry Truman.
Yes, he really wanted her and thought that she was cool
But to put it bluntly, she thought he was a damn fool.
When they were at Nelson’s funeral, she didn’t say much at all.
Then she finally said, “The way you drink, you’ll be in that coffin next fall.”
No, this isn’t about a prostitute, a bad girl or whore,
It’s about a woman who couldn’t stand him,
The girl who came before.
Now, he knows she hated him but he loved her all the more.
Yes, she was the love of his life—
The girl who came before.
written 1999
