This is a song about a song. I was listening to some old vinyl, and when I played Karla Bonoff's brilliant "Lose Again", it took me back to a night long ago when her song was a soundtrack to my own breaking heart. (I'm feeling better now thanks).

My former CEO, Mike Brien, was a master of metaphors and one of them (whether the journey's worth the fare) found its way into the lyrics.

Lyrics

Losing Again

I dropped the needle in the groove,
the music crackled and hissed.
That’s a sound I’ve missed
A piano and a voice, it took my heart that night,
squeezed it like a fist.
I remember thinking that it couldn’t be true,
if I was wrong about you, I was wrong about
everything.
I felt betrayed and alone, I turned the stereo on,
that’s when I heard her sing.

Karla said it better than I ever could’ve said it myself, at that moment, back then.
The train was gone, my heart was wrong
and I was losing again.

I remember how hard I cried. I was dying inside.
You lied to me. What could be worse?
I sat down at my piano. Now how do these chords go?
I cued up the first verse.
I learned it line by line, I sang it loud until it felt like my very own.
I wasn’t feeling too proud to beg, that’s fine.
Sometimes you need a loan.

Karla said it better than I ever could’ve said it myself, at that moment, back then.
The train was gone, my heart was wrong
and I was losing again.

Just then the record hit a scratch,
got stuck on a beat,
and it brought me back.
Back from memory lane,
it’s an old road of pain, that rarely leads
anywhere.
And I can stay for a song but if I linger too long, the journey’s just not worth the fare.

Karla got it right for what I needed that night, but I’m not who I was back then.
The train is gone, my heart moved on,
and this time
I win.

MY COLLECTIBLES
© Sharon Lucy Nauss-Hughes