Lyle Lovett "Here I Am"

Do you ever have the experience of hearing a song many, many times, but suddenly, it jogs a memory?

We play Lyle Lovett's "Here I Am" on a semi-frequent basis.  And have, for many, many years.

But I heard it yesterday, and for whatever reason it shook loose a little sketch of a memory from a good 15 years ago.

My roommate Mandy had a computer.

Why is this significant?  This was the first time I'd ever lived with someone who actually owned a computer.

I know, I know.  It seems unfathomable now, to live in a house without computer-access.

But in the mid-to-late 90s, it was pretty unusual for a 20-something like myself and my roommates, to actually own a computer.

But Mandy had one.  And she was even savvy enough to create her own sounds.

She'd edited pieces of "Here I Am" so they played at key moments---when you might normally hear a beep or ding.

When you logged on, you'd hear Lyle's "Hello?"

And if you Escaped out of something, it would say, "That wouldn't make you a shallow person, would it?"

If you tried to log out, Lyle would say, "Please, if it's not too late . . ."

Funny that this memory would suddenly dislodge here in 2013. 

That's my brain.  As reliable as a computer from 1997.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Lyle Lovett "Here I Am"

I like songs that have a good joke in them. But they're not very fun to hear live.

Have you ever heard a live Adam Sandler song? The audience is always singing the punch line. Totally annoying.

I went to see Lyle Lovett at the Cape Cod Melody Tent a bunch of years ago, and when he started to play "Here I Am" I was kind of excited, because I like the song.

But every time he'd get to the end of a verse, ready to drop his perfectly placed pregnant pause and zinger, the audience, in unison, would yell it out.

Totally ruined the song for me.

How do you get around this, if you're the artist?

Lyle is a smart man. He did save the song, by adding a whole new verse at the end, so no one knew the joke, set up or punch line, and he was able to get the audience to listen, rather than mimic.

The other way? Sing it in a foreign country . . .


See the video on Youtube.

The origial

See the video on Youtube.