have of it is from Carboro, North Carolina, on 21 March 1988.
Stylistically, it seems to fit pretty tightly into that time period,
so I don't think it was written too much earlier than that.


Cold black coffee, incessant stream of cars
Cigarette ash lies sprinkled like a fistful of grey stars
Yesterday it rained silver rainbows on the ground
Today the rain's just water - it won't stop from falling down.

I get weary waiting for my muse
But in between the times she comes
I still have to tie my shoes
And get on with my day
There are mornings when I'm with (?)
And there are days I have to take the bus.

Life's so rich...
Life's so empty...

Secret rendezvous, long distance from a phone booth
Like two players in a mystery straight out of our youth
Well I'm finding that dramatics have lost their old appeal
I play the part of stoic lover, but I'm not sure how I feel
I get discouraged waiting for the world
To understand this love affair
To understand the girl
There are mornings when Amelia's right beside me
The next thing I know, I taste the salt of the sea.

Life's so rich...
Life's so empty...

Cold black coffee, incessant stream of cars
Cigarette ash lies sprinkled like a fistful of grey stars
Yesterday it rained silver rainbows on the ground
Today the rain's just water - it won't stop from falling down.

As I grow weary, I'm waiting for the world
To understand this love affair
To understand the girl
There are mornings when Amelia's right beside me
The next thing I know, I taste the salt of the sea.

Life's so rich...
Life's so empty...
Life's so strange