bittersweet
lyrics and music by Nathan Davis
I woke up beside the ocean
And looked into the waves,
And saw a sweet goodbye behind my Carolina mountain high.
I remember when I kissed someone here
And I recall the smile in her eyes.
Maybe the setting sun will tell the tale I've told a thousand times
To this Carolina mountain sky.
Yeah, I met Jesus in Atlanta [ed. "New Orleans" in some versions];
I saw a tie-dyed tear fall from his eye.
You may say that Jerry's dead and gone
But I still hear the laughter in his songs;
And as the sky falls down,
The world spins round
And all that I have found has come unwound.
But everything, everything is fine,
Brother can you spare a dime?
Bittersweet...
I took my thoughts away from California
I'm goin' home again, I don't know if I'll stay.
If she thinks of me just one more time before the day she dies
My tears won't be in vain.
Tell me do you miss the music?
Does anyone care at all?
Are you an illiterate?
Or do you choose not to read the writing on the wall of your soul?
Does your blood run cold when you feel you're growin' old?
No more fear, I see the light from here.
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Nathan wrote this song when he was quite young, probably at around 16 or 17 years old. It certainly was before he finished high school. He performed it at Sandhills Community College, on a flat bed truck, outside, during a music event, the first time his father and mother had heard him play one of his songs in public. At the time, he introduced the song, saying that it was about growing up in a small southern town, feeling trapped.