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The Best of Me

from Umbrella Man by Scott Albert Johnson

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about

This is the most autobiographical song I have ever written, and it’s also the one that took the longest to write. I came up with the guitar motif and the beginnings of a lyric in the summer of 2005, not long after I was married to Susan Margaret Barrett and shortly before the birth of our first son, Charlie. It took me over a year to complete the lyrics; it was very important to me that I get it “right” (whatever that means), as I wrote it directly for my new family. Finally, an image of a journey towards our shared future helped me complete the words.

I thought about playing the nylon-string guitar part myself, but wisdom prevailed and Randy Everett played it beautifully.

lyrics

It’s a rainy night in America and I don’t know where I am
I’m not the King of Anything… stuck in another jam
It’s times like these when I look inside and I wonder what I see
When the Man Upstairs doesn’t seem to care what will ever become of me

But there’s a lady with a phone beside her pillow
And there’s a little man staying up to watch TV
And I think of you and everything is clear now
It’s my job to give you the best of me

Don’t know how I got here from the places that I’ve been
This road has been the ruin of many better men
I don’t know why it took so long for me to learn how to be strong
And I don’t know how to disavow the things that I’ve done wrong

But I’m learning how to see across the canyon
Between who I am and who I need to be
And you’re the ones who keep me standing on my feet now
It’s your job – to keep getting the best of me

So I’ll keep on singing songs around the Southland
Songs about everything from A to Z
And I’ll dream a time when all these rhymes add up to more than echoes
And who knows – if we’re lucky – they just might set us free

And you and he and I will walk together
Anticipating all that’s yet to be
‘Til the day you both look back and remember ...

... I gave you the best of me

credits

from Umbrella Man, released May 8, 2007
Vocal and harmonica: Scott Albert Johnson
Nylon-string guitar: Randy Everett

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Scott Albert Johnson Jackson, Mississippi

Scott Albert Johnson was bathed in the wide range of the American songbook, as well as the sounds of his 1970’s and 80’s childhood. That diversity is at the core of his new album, Going Somewhere. Johnson incorporates rock, jazz, blues, funk, country, and world music, mixed with thoughtful lyrics, strong vocals, and virtuosic harmonica playing, to create a unique, modern concoction of sound. ... more

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