Lyrics To a Stranger - The Golden Palominos

To a Stranger

It was the hour you make confidences to a stranger
It seemed I’d become nearly human enough to think of another person’s trouble
And we were fellow strangers, then
It was the hour you make confidences to a stranger
Tell me all your secrets, tell me
Tell me all your secrets, tell me
I can’t believe it you, but I can keep a promise (tell me)
So tell me, tell me all your secrets
The day is so full of noise it might make you feel better
It was one of my favorite years
It was my favorite year
And I thought to myself, «I remember, this is what hope feels like»
Standing at the other end of your favorite year, you remember
That when you posses a thing securely, you need never use it
Hold back and let go, hold back and let go, let go
Hold back and let go, hold back and let go, let go
Despair can always produce an answer, and despair asks me now
«Would you rather it was love and not lust?
Would you rather it was love and not lust?»
In cafes (Hold back and let go)
On sidewalks (Hold back and let go, let go)
That man is waving at me!
That man is waving at me!
On a trip to the bookstore, or just sit down for awhile in the park
That man is waving at me, that man is looking at me (Hold back and let go,
hold back and let go, let go)
To lie flat, to be pressed down upon (Hold back and let go)
Your weight, your legs, your breath (Hold back and let go, hold back and let go,
let go)
Your… your… your… (Hold back and let go, hold back and let go, let go)
And that name will dampen every mood of happiness or fun or
Exhilaration with its reminder that love dies, and afternoon and
Habit with the day
So good… so good… so good…
Say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, so good…
It was the hour you make confidences to a stranger (so good)
It seemed I’d become nearly human enough to think of another person’s trouble
(so good)
And we were fellow strangers, then (so good)
It was the hour you make confidences to a stranger (so good)
I discovered that I measured love by the extent of my jealousy
Did I get it wrong?
(Would you rather it was love and not lust?)
It was though our love were a creature caught in a trap and bleeding to death,
I had to shut my eyes and wring it’s neck
(Would you rather it was love and not lust?)
Did I get it wrong?
Did I get it wrong?
Did I?
Did I get it wrong?
(Would you rather it was love and not lust?) (Yes)
Tell me all your secrets, tell me
Tell me all your secrets, tell me
I’ll be watching, believe me, will you talk to me?
It was the hour you make confidences to a stranger (I said it wrong)
Would you rather it was love and not lust?
How strange too and unfamiliar to think that one had been loved,
that one’s presence had once had the power to make a difference between
happiness and dullness in another’s day?
Would you rather it was love and not lust?
(Tell me, tell me all your secrets,
tell me, tell me all your secrets, tell me)
And as you carry on with the dance of exposure and camouflage
You hold back and let go, hold back and let go
Hold back and let go, let go
Hold back and let go, hold back and let go, let go
And you can justify it in any way to make yourself feel better
And you try to think about different ways that you can justify it
So you can feel a little better
(Hold back and let go, hold back and let go, let go)