A John Hartford Tune for Valentine’s Day

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A John Hartford Tune for Valentine’s Day

Thursday, February 14th, 2008 | Holidays |

First Girl I Ever Loved

I was in love with you, well-before I knew,
it meant more than just wanting to be with you
I used to look for other girls that looked like you

But the laws of nature said, ‘forget it, son’
‘least that’s what somebody told me
I worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

I dreamt that you were Joan-of Arc
And I was Don Quixote
And everywhere we went the world was tin-foil

But I gave up dreaming, and became a priest
It put it right out of my system
I worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

Now you used to play the guitar
We worked in a country band
I hung out down on the river bank, on Sunday
Your brother was my closest friend,
he drove a pickup truck
he used to bring me home sometimes, from high school

Now I was fifteen, oh the very first time
Love broke completely inside me
We were young, and we were learning about it together

And we had enough of what we thought we’d need
Of those well-known secret fables
We worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

I regret my life won’t be long enough
To make love to all the women that I’d like to
Or least of all, to live with the ones I’ve loved

And I’ve never regretted a love affair,
except one and that’s all over
I worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

Now I heard you lived a-way up north
Your kids are fat and plenty
And I haven’t seen your brother since a-way last Easter

And if every other girl in the whole wide world
Was just a little bit more like you
I’d worry about it a little bit, but that’s all

Now you used to play the guitar
We worked in a country band
We hung out down on the river bank, on Sunday
Your brother was my closest friend,
he drove a pickup truck
he used to bring me home sometimes, from high school