Song #4: How Are You Keeping?

Firstly, let me state that I have never dated, kissed or even gotten a number from any woman named Kerri Ann. I chose the name because I like the alliterative nature of 'How are you keeping, Kerri Ann?'. That's not to say that the women I know named Kerri Ann are not lovely people, they are. It's just that this song is...ah forget it, let's move on, shall we?

This song is based on the time-tested ideas of 'What if' and 'The one who got away'. The poor clueless bastard who is narrating this tale is both deluded and stuck in time. He transfers a brief drunken moment into a relationship that is destined to be. Of course he tries to pick it up twenty years later, after a lifetime of bad decisions and shady dealings. But he always has been a charming rogue and figures his quick wit and crooked smile will get him the girl, like it always has in the past. Little does he realize that time moves on, people grow up and unmoored ships have a funny habit of drifting away.

Big props to my son Everett who was just off camera, happily sitting in his Bumbo and singing backup.

(click through for lyrics)

At a time when things were much more simple, at a time when we both were alone

I had too much to drink as usual, you offered me a ride home

On the front steps of my apartment I kissed you once as we held hands

Well I tell you Kerri Ann, I would’ve done things different

If I’d known it would be my only chance

How are you keeping Kerri Ann? It’s been awhile, yes it’s true

Funny how the years that have been so bad to me, well they sure been good to you

Oh how are you keeping Kerri Ann?

Flipping through and old photo album, full of faces from my checkered past

I could name less than half of them, care-free memories fading fast

But your face is one that I won’t forget, it holds a special place inside my mind

Is it just me Kerri Ann, in one sided idle dreaming, or do you think of me from time to time

Oh how are you keeping Kerri Ann?

It was an innocent schoolboy crush, one that I never quite outgrew

I never lost hope for the two of us, but all my roads led me straight away from you

Fast forward twenty-odd years later, at a wedding of an old neighborhood friend

Outside the church I was waiting for you, to see if sparks could fly again

You introduced me to your husband and showed me pictures of your kids

Well I hugged you Kerri Ann, and then I made a quiet exit, these foolish words dying on my lips

How are you keeping Kerri Ann? It’s been awhile, yes it’s true

Funny how the years that have been so bad to me, well they sure been good to you

Oh how are you keeping Kerri Ann?