This song has a weird history for me personally. It originally had a totally different verse and choruses, and I recorded it twice, once in 1998 and again in 2000-01, but when I brought it out of retirement, I decided to keep only the backing tracks and create an entirely new “story” out of it.
So much so, that I hereby completely disown the old version of this song, and I know there are recordings of it out there and I don’t care much for that fact. The big reason is that the old one was a cryptic-poetic downer, like a real, real, downer, about how I hated having to put myself out there as a creative despite being told by naysayers that I’m not as good as people who are better than me. And I really didn’t want to sing that anymore, so I came up with something new.
I decided to go for a juicy love song, and now that I’m not married anymore, I can be honest about the source of the inspiration for this song. I was with the woman I’d marry, living with her as my girlfriend and life-partner and future fiance/wife, but across a crowded lecture hall, there she was–this absolutely gorgeous brunette with whom I was instantly captivated. And just to make it extra juicy–she looked right back and seemed to be affected, enough that she tried to get near me on the way out.
I’m of the disposition that I cannot cheat on my partner/wife/spouse/mate because I cannot live with a situation where there’s a woman out there who could honestly tell my live-in, “I fucked your boyfriend.” So I never, never spoke to this girl, because the only reason I’d be speaking to this girl is because she is so goddamn incredibly gorgeous and I’m meant to love her to the ends of the earth, or something like that. There was one time she ended up right across from me on the 5C West Hamilton bus. I kept my headphones on, but, man on man, was she ever beautiful, and she’d been eyeing me for some time now. But I was no cheater.
A few years later, I’d see this beautiful young woman on CP24 doing TTC updates. Her name was Jessica Martin, and she was eventually the Communications Lead for the Toronto Transit Authority, and she was a transit-traffic reporter for years. And I swear–she’s prettier in person than on TV or in photos. I mean it.
Anyway–I decided to conjure up a nice, idealistic version of that moment when I elected to write new lyrics for this song. Here they are.
Verse 1:
Well you were there across the room
And I knew that I was seeing someone special
I couldn’t believe it
And then your eyes looked back at mine
Could it be that you were trying to see who’s looking?
And it happened
And there it was I saw the sign
That very soon would come the time
That I’d be saying, “Nice to meet you,
“Care to join me for a while?”
Chorus:
We can fall in love right here tonight
We can fall in love and feel so right
And I know I’ve seen the light
Now you and I are lovers at first sight
Verse 2:
Well now we’re here and wouldn’t you know
That there’s a magic kind of feeling here between us
Like it’s easy
Like there’s nothing to pretend
And we can’t believe the hand that life could deal us
Hearts and diamonds
And here it is, I see the sign
That very soon will come the time
I’ll see you smiling, and I’ll know that
We’ll be making love tonight
(Chorus 2)
Bridge:
There you were across the room
There and all at once we knew
There you were and know I now
I’m meant to be right here with you
Verse 3:
Well now we’re here and time has passed
And I find that I’m still moved each time I see you
I can’t believe it
And as I build a world with you
I know it’s going to be the two of us for always
In love forever
And as our lives go on I find
That now and then there comes a time
I’ll look into your eyes
And fall in love at seeing you again
(Chorus 3)
Here’s video of me recording the original vocals, with lyrics as subtitles:
