Words For Wendy

Lyrics:
Wendy has something she wants to tell you
That she thinks you ought to know
She's standing there in the corner
Her overalls are dirty from the flowers picked
And put into her hair
In the parking lot

And every time you look around
I know she looks away
She's only trying to find the words to say

Wendy has three words she'd like to say to you
The Words are empty, hollow jokes
The English language is a hoax
But nonetheless, she's scratched a piece of paper with
The symbols of her soul
They're folded up in her pocket

And pockets hold our hands
Until our fingers dare to feel
To learn the only lesson that is real

Oh whoa oh
Wendy, you've waiting so long
Oh whoa oh
Wendy, I know you belong
You belong
Oh whoa oh

Wendy, I wish you could hear what I can hear
Your fragile, trembling voice
Gets stronger when you make a choice
And choices lead to broken hearts and mournful thoughts
But eventually to love
If not the one you're thinking of

I see a girl whose adolescence she's about to leave
You'll be a woman soon if you believe
Believe, believe

Oh whoa oh
Wendy, you've waiting so long
Oh whoa oh
Wendy, I know you belong
You belong
Oh whoa oh

Details: This is one of three songs I performed during my Sound Bridge Music Featured Artist interview in December.

I wrote this song several years ago when my friend Wendy was thinking about starting a podcast. She wanted a song that sounded something like The Cure (she had originally wanted something like their song "Wendy Time"). Unfortunately, I'm not really a fan of The Cure, so I tried to think of another artist that was somewhat similar to The Cure, but that I actually liked; I settled on Belle and Sebastian. So this song sounds a heck of a lot more like a Belle and Sebastian song than a Cure song, but if I were to sing it like Robert Smith, I think I could make it sound like a Cure song.

Anyway, since this was for a podcast, I wanted the song to be about communication and trying to be heard. Also, since this was Wendy's first foray into podcasting, I was thinking about new challenges and what-not. So I decided to write a coming of age story about a shy girl named Wendy.

At the same time, I couldn't help but stick a few friendly jabs into the lyrics. Wendy is an editor by trade, and we've had debates about language-- I tend to think it's more fluid than she does. So the line "Words are empty, hollow jokes; the English language is a hoax" is me teasing her.

I'm not sure if Wendy ever put together her podcast, but this song never go used as it was intended as a theme song, but it has ended up being one of my more popular songs in concert.

Thanks to Trish Applegate-Loetz and Tim Ostdiek for recording it!