Davenport Cemetery (click image for slideshow)

Today was miserably overcast and windy – thoroughly uninviting for a day hike on my return home from Thanksgiving. I decided to shun the turnpike and get my kicks on Route 66 from OKC to Tulsa. As I was approaching Davenport a line of trees beside the road drew my eye into the local cemetery where tombstones led over to a lovely stone chapel which was built in 1939 by the WPA.

After some Tulsa entertainment I was heading home when the iPhone shuffled up an old song by George Michael in his more reflective solo phase before the worst of his scandals. I’m always a sucker for songs about lost love, and Waiting For That Day is a favorite. I thoroughly enjoy his mashup of the chords and rhythm from the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want with the often-sampled Funky Drummer. This was George’s first single to not break the top ten in the U.S., but it’s a top song for me.

So every day I see you in some other face
They crack a smile, talk awhile
And try to take your place
Oh my memory serves me far too well

I just sit here on this mountain thinking to myself
You’re a fool boy
Why don’t you go down
Find somebody
Find somebody else
My memory serves me far too well

It’s not as though we just broke up
It’s not as though it was yesterday, yeah
But something I just can’t explain
Something in me needs this pain
I know I’ll never see your face again

Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo now
C’mon now

Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo
I’ve got to be strong now

Now everybody’s talking about this new decade
Like you say the magic numbers
Then just say goodbye to
The stupid mistakes you made
Oh my memory serves me far too well

Don’t you know that
The years will come and go
Some of us will change our lives
Some of us still have nothing to show
Nothing baby, nothing baby
But memories, but memories

And if these wounds
They are self-inflicted
I don’t really know
How my poor heart could have protected me
But if I have to carry this pain
If you will not share the blame
I deserve to see your face again

Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo now
C’mon now
Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo
You don’t have to be so strong now
Come back, come back, come back, come back
Come back, come back, come back

Oh, come back to me darling
I will make it worth your while
Come on back to your baby
I miss your kiss
I miss your smile
Seems to me the peace I search to find there
Ain’t going to be mine until you say you will
Don’t you keep me waiting for that day
Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo now
I know, I know, I know
You hear these words that I say
Oo oo oo
Oo oo oo now

I know, I know, I know

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
Oh, come back, come back, come back
Come back, come back, come back

I also very much like Waiting (Reprise) which speaks pretty clearly about George’s inner turmoil at the time.

There ain’t no point in moving on
‘Til you’ve got somewhere to go
And the road that I have walked upon
Well it filled my pockets
And emptied out my soul

All those insecurities
That have held me down for so long
I can’t say I’ve found a cure for these
But at least I know them
So they’re not so strong

You look for your dreams in heaven
But what the hell are you supposed to do
When they come true?

Well there’s one year of my life in these songs
And some of them are about you
Now I know there’s no way I can right those wrongs
Believe me
I would not lie, you’ve hurt my pride
And I guess there’s a road without you

But you once said
There’s a way back for every man
So here I am
Don’t people change,
Here I am
Is it too late to try again,
Here I am

Don’t wait too long, lest you be buried with your feelings.