In the little song below, every single line calls to mind a deeper fuller scene not explicitly shared in the words being sung, and you're left at once both aching for more details yet also feeling somewhat ashamed of overhearing someone's deepest thoughts.
Learn to do this for a hundred pages or more, and they'll drive truckloads of cash to your door and hail you as a genius, kids.
Me -- I'm still learning.
BEAUMONT
(by Hayes Carll)
I saw you leanin' on a memory
With your back turned to the crowd
In that little bar on Murphy
Where they play guitar too loud
There were people drinkin' whiskey
There were hearts about to leave
It was cold as hell for Houston
It was almost New Years Eve
All the way from Beaumont
With a white rose in my hand
I could not wait forever babe
I hope you understand
The night was feelin' lucky
So I asked you to dance
And the way you looked up at me
Made me think I had a chance
But when I put my arms around you
I knew you weren't givin' in
I hope it will be different
If I pass this way again
All the way from Beaumont
With a white rose in my hand
I could not wait forever babe
I hope you understand
I walked the road to get here
With a guitar and a case
I'd have stopped in Pasadena
If I'd known about this place
But you looked like forever
Where the water meets the shore
I've been thinkin about you, baby
I can't do that anymore
I saw you leanin' on a memory
With your back turned to the crowd
In that little bar on Murphy
Where they play guitar too loud
There were people drinkin' whiskey
There were hearts about to leave
It was cold as hell for Houston
It was almost New Years Eve
All the way from Beaumont
With a white rose in my hand
I could not wait forever babe
I hope you understand
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