"I Read a Lot" by Nick Lowe
I am totally in love with this beautiful, wistfully sad new song by Nick Lowe.
The song isn't released yet, so I used my iPhone Voice Memo app to record an m4a audio version (which you can convert to an mp3 if you need to) from a video of Lowe performing the tune live earlier this month. Now I can listen to it via iTunes until it's released, when, of course, I will buy the official version.
Download I Read a Lot.m4a and promise to buy the song if it's officially released!
Nick Lowe is an English singer/songwriter icon, but if you haven't heard of him, you most likely know his songs, such as "Cruel to Be Kind" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" which was a hit for Elvis Costello. He also produced Elvis Costello's first several albums. He's having a bit of a moment--a couple years ago he released his first new album in a long time called At My Age and is on tour promoting his new Best of album out this year, Quiet Please...The New Best of Nick Lowe. During his live shows, he's been performing this unreleased tune and I can't get enough of it.
Here are the lyrics. (Thanks to Ukelele Underground.) The song will make you want to cry. Guaranteed.
I Read a Lot
I read a lot, nowadays
Much more than before you left me high and dry
in a loveless land
with nothing but time on my hands
I read a lot, not just magazines
But other more serious things, to get me through the day
Nighttime too
Whilst wondering how in the world to go on without you
“Lonely” isn’t the word for me now
“Blue” doesn’t describe it somehow
I read a lot, I can’t put it down
While others are painting the town, you’ll find me in a world
Of fantasy.
Population: one. That’s me
So if you ask me how I stop
Contemplating what I now have not
I’ll reply
I read a lot
