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