Jack writes:
Paul and I have been in each other's lives in all manner of ways for almost fifteen years. We have been lovers. we have been best friends. we have mourned the deaths of our mothers together. we have struggled through life together. we continue to find our ways in the world as individuals and as a couple.
We don’t really know where this may take us, but we have made a commitment to be there for each other throughout the adventure.
The idea for a song to celebrate and honor our lives together grew out of a search to find something new to say to each other, and to the world, in an honest way about the genesis of our relationship. The Truth is that we met through a pre-computer personals ad in a local alternative newspaper called Everybody’s News. This song may be the first time we have ever been completely honest about the circumstances of our meeting. Upon first hearing the song, we smiled and laughed because it captured our lives and our experiences in such a very real way.
The Men We Used to Be (for Paul from Jack)
So phone calls led to coffee
And coffee led to four-star dining
Opera cabaret and the literati
You and your theatrically impeccable timing
How we met is nobody’s business
But it seems its Everybody’s News
I practiced all my outdated moves before I got dressed
I put on my rarely-used dancing shoes
I may not be the most flamboyant man on Eastern Avenue
And you may not be the most litigious man at FBT
But every day we walk a few more miles in each other’s
shoes
And we’re becoming more like each other than the men we
used to be
Some things are most easily repaired
By learning to forgive and forget
Like that final drag we shared
On our very last cigarette
Like that under-rehearsed and underprepared
Performance of Janáček’s string quartet
I may not be the most flamboyant man on Eastern Avenue
And you may not be the most litigious man at FBT
But every day we walk a few more miles in each other’s
shoes
And we’re becoming more like each other than the men we
used to be
You may not be the most active activist in all Ohio
And I may not be the most religious man from Tennessee
But imagine what a perfect child we could raise in our
humble home
All the moms in the world would be so proud of you and
me
words and music by Corey Dargel (except as noted)
artwork by Marisol Limon Martinez
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