Command-click here to play the song in a separate window while you read about it.
Notes from the author (Andy):
Count is also from 1991 but later in the summer. I'd written maybe ten songs by then, and they all sounded very jangly and/or fuzzy. This was an attempt at a different sound. The theme of the lyrics is what people today call 'decision fatigue'. One way I deal with that currently is by pre-marking all my socks as either 'left' or 'right'. Unfortunately my left socks seem to wear out faster, so the population becomes unbalanced over time.
Notes from the performer of this version (Memphis):
When I first heard this song I thought of it as being about trying to decide whether to end one relationship and maybe begin or try to begin another. Such things felt immensely important at age 21 and of course they were. More recently, while listening to different recorded versions of Andy singing this in the interest of compiling the best possible lyric sheet for myself to use, I also happened to be reading Hamlet. It occurred to me that it could even be about deciding to live or die - To be or not to be. Or, you know, socks. Lol!
Lyrics:
I could not count the times each day
I tell myself it's time to go
But I worry if I don't stay
Would I be countin' the times that I
wish that I was home
If it seems I'm wastin' my time
It's nothin' I can help
When you can't make decisions
You let them make themselves
Thing I hate about sayin' hello
Is thinkin' about what I leave behind
Thing I hate about never sayin' goodbye
Is thinkin' about
what is goin' to pass me by
If it seems I'm wastin' my time
It's nothin' I can help
When you can't make decisions
You let them make themselves
I could not count the times each day
I think of reasons to stay or go
And I think my first mistake
Was thinkin' that there was a reason I should know
A reason I should know
A reason I should know
I could not count the times each day
I tell myself it's time to go
Previous song: Tale
Next song: (Not A) Baseball Man