You or Your Memory

Album: The Sunset Tree and Come, Come to the Sunset Tree

Lyrics

I checked into a bargain priced room on La Cienega
Gazed out through the curtains at the parking lot
Walked[1] down to the corner store just before nightfall in my bare feet
Black tarry asphalt, soft and hot
And when I came back I spread out my supplies
On the counter by the sink
I looked myself right in the eyes

St. Joseph's baby aspirin
Bartles and Jaymes
And you or your memory

I ducked behind the drapes when I saw the moon begin to rise
Gathered in my loose ends, switched off the light[2]
And down there in the dark I can see the real truth about me
As clear as day[3], Lord if I make it through tonight
Then I will mend my ways and[4] walk the straight path to the end of my days

St. Joseph's baby aspirin
Bartles and Jaymes
And you or your memory

Banter

This is a song that offers you a Hobson’s choice. It’s called You or Your Memory. (2005-05-07)
I looked up the motel in this song on, like, Yelp to see what people had to say about it. They didn’t think it was such a great motel. I don’t- maybe they missed- like, for me, well the front office has bulletproof glass; that’s pretty cool. And there’s a Polaroid picture of a naked lady in the bulletproof glass and it says ‘Sexy Movie Five Dollars’. So, I don’t know what these Yelp people have against this lovely motel that I stayed at in 1988 when I was working at an AIDS hospice. (2012-12-17)

Live Performances

Footnotes

1. "ducked" (2023-10-27), "I went" (2023-10-28), "went" (2021-08-08)
2. "and I gathered in my loose ends, and I switched off the light" (2021-08-08)
3. Variant: "as clear as all daylight" (2023-10-28), "clear as daylight" (2021-08-08)
4. Variant: "and I will" (2021-08-08, 2023-10-28)