Jim and I played one of my oldest songs at Out of the Bedroom.  It’s a confabulation of two things – a romance of my youth, and one line from Robin Williamson’s song Maya: ‘Opinions are his fingernails’

Fingernails

She was young and she was plain

I was proud and I was vain

When I claimed her for my own

Her fingernails had barely grown

She grew lovely by my side

I believed she’d be my bride

She grew strong and I grew weak

Fingernails they stroked my cheek

Only fingernails

Protect the soft exploring fingers

Only fingernails

Show the world

Where you’ve been

With each turning of the page

She demands a wider stage

All my clinging was no use

Fingernails had cut her loose

Ever since the curtain fell

I’ve been sailing close to Hell

I slide down the sinking ship

Fingernails have lost their grip

Only fingernails …

Looking back, we’ve come so far

From those nights I used to start her car

Time to time, when my nerve fails

I still use her fingernails.

Norman Lamont 1994