Unlikely though this may seem, this was written almost directly as a reaction to Friday's earthquake & tsunami in Japan. I found the scenes, the events and the circumstances almost too big to comprehend, and so I fell back to counting blessings. But I have been wanting to write chirpier songs anyway, so I worked on the idea, and here it is:

Ordinary Day

and the lyrics:


ORDINARY DAY
George Papavgeris, March 2011

I cut and tied and stacked all day and left it there to dry
And Father said that he had never seen the bails so high
And after dinner took my arm and said "I know just what you're thinking"
I followed him out of the house, half a step behind
And when we reached the Hare and Hounds he beckoned me inside
"Today you worked just like a man; tonight you get to do man's drinking"

It was a day, an ordinary day, a day like any other day
The kind that makes a life worth living.

We set off before sunrise at a slow and steady pace
I wanted to go faster, but you said "It's not a race,
The mountain's going nowhere, mate. It's only you that will get tired"
At last we reached the summit as the sun was getting high
The view from there so beautiful, I thought that I would cry
I looked away to hide my face because my eyes were full of fire.

It was a day, an ordinary day, a day like any other day
The kind that makes a life worth living.

Each time I see the sun come up I cannot help but feel a sense of wonder
For the prospect of another day ahead I think is wonderful enough

We were returning home and as the house came into view
You smiled and said that soon we would be three instead of two,
And I just didn't understand and made a joke about your mother
You said you would be happy to explain the facts of life
And how we would be parents, and not only man and wife
And I just couldn't understand how I could ever love another

It was a day, an ordinary day, a day like any other day
The kind that makes a life worth living.

Each time I wake and see your face I cannot help but feel a sense of wonder
For living through another day with you I think is wonderful enough

We drove all day in the countryside and hardly spoke a word
If somebody was watching us they'd think it was absurd
We gave each other time and space rather than talk about the weather.
And yet you know I wouldn't change a moment of this day
Our silence doesn't mean that we have nothing left to say
'Cause at the end we smiled and said how nice it was to be together

It was a day, an ordinary day, a day like any other day
The kind that makes a life worth living.