It’s a song about that time in the early morning
Winter with the vague sun and coming out of sleep
Eyes shut but you can see the room starting to materialise
The gap between sleeping and waking
What we really are and what we think we are
It’s not quite dawn and a wintery sun
Lies in wait to make the shape of the room
I close my eyes and feel the warm
Of your sleeping arms and the state of calm
On a need to know basis
In the first flush of a love affair
When you have become attuned yet it’s still so new
She’s sleeping there as you become aware
And you sense who she is before stepping into your own mental shoes
I count the rate of the beat of your heart
Lying in wait to be courageous awake
It comes back to me we’re never apart
The we don’t keep no secrets at all
On a need to know basis
You’re all I need on a need to know basis baby
You don’t want to leave this place
Don’t want to shift the fragile balance
To face work and choices and your own full but less than perfect self
The city is out there waking up itself and calling out to both of you
I feel the wake of the traffic start
To make its way into the wings of the day
I try to stay with the angels
And find a way to make the aliens wait
On a need to know basis
You’re all I need on a need to know basis baby
Try not to blink or think
Just sink into the one you’re with
On a need to know basis
You’re all I need on a need to know basis baby
You’re all I need
The Ghost of Electricity – War Stories by Jon McLeary is a new initiative at Off The Tracks, a series of stories and reflections from painter, writer and musician Jon McLeary
To read any of the first 151in the series click here
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