Well it began with a gift
And died with a debt
But if redemption’s on the cards
Well it hasn’t happened yet.
He said if you need anything from me
All you’ve got to do is ask,
But he wore that sincerity
Like a halloween mask.
I owe, I owe
I owe so many folk
I’ve got nowhere to go.
I owe, I owe
Won’t nobody help me get out of this hole?
His words were sweet as honey
But that honey attracted flies.
I know he never meant to really love me
He just wanted to synchronise.
I said beware those things you sow
Because one day you’ve got to reap them.
He said what’s the use in making promises darling?
You’ve only got to keep them.
I owe, I owe
I owe so many folk
I’ve got nowhere to go.
I owe, I owe
Won’t nobody help me get out of this hole?
And each morning he’d fall through my door,
Frail, foul and thin,
Beauty may be all around us
But there’s certainly nothing good within him.
I know a gambler’s got no ties,
Just a suitcase and a trunk,
But I soon came to realise
There are more days behind us than in front.
I owe, I owe
I owe so many folk
I’ve got nowhere to go.
I owe, I owe
Won’t nobody help me get out of this hole?
Now the stitching has frayed
And all the cupboards are bare,
He’s got his head in his hands
But he’s lost the luxury of despair.
It’s true I ain’t possessive
And it’s true I don’t need wealth,
But if he wants to be a martyr now
I’ll hammer the nails in myself.
I owe, I owe
I owe so many folk
I’ve got nowhere to go.
I owe, I owe
Won’t nobody help me get out of this hole?
When I wrote this song everyone I knew was having serious money problems – myself included. We all had debts and we were all owed debts. It was an ugly time of strained friendships and limited options. To quote Logan Mountstuart in William Boyd’s Any Human Heart, these were our “dog food years” and this song is a romanticised reflection of that time, distilled down to a single relationship.
No points for identifying the reference to House Of The Rising Sun in the third verse.
