Thursday, September 17, 2015

"The First Night of the Year"

This is a fairly accurate chronicle of my day on January 1, 1985. This song got a rewrite a few years later, in which it was trimmed down and beaten into a more commercial pop song.

The First Night of the Year

© Brian Hutzell 1985

I wasted the first day of the New Year
Sitting at a friend's house, watching TV
I made a list of things I had to do
And forgot it as soon as night came.

Walked out in the cold air
Got the subway to Harvard Square
Stopped at a coffee shop, drank a cup
Back on the subway to Back Bay
I sat at a bar drinking whisky
Eating popcorn, watching a football game
Didn't bother talking to anyone
Got bored staring at the dying ferns and the deer's head above me
Thinking, "This is bullshit.
This is life."

January, January First
The first day of the year
January, January First
That's what I did on the first night of the year

I went to a movie that wasn't any good
Then decided to hit another bar
Writing in a notebook: random thoughts
While sipping a tall Irish Coffee
Two ladies sitting next to me
We talked about Chicago and dancing
And tried to listen to everyone else
Saw a girl I thought I knew, but I was wrong

January, January First
The first day of the year
January, January First
That's what I did on the first night of the year

Somewhere between that bar and the next, I lost my umbrella
More coffee drinks
Now I was drunk with a caffeine buzz
Once again seeing faces I thought I recognized
I got nervous for no reason
A middle-aged man and his wife tried to pick me up
But he made the mistake of mentioning his kids

January, January First
The first day of the year
January, January First
That's what I did on the first night of the year

Back at home I couldn't get to sleep
I put on a cassette
And listened until the tape ended
When the recorder clicked off, so did I

January, January First
The first day of the year
January, January First
That's what I did on the first night of the year
That's what I did on the first night of the year



Pembroke Street, Boston


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