2022 January: Song of the Month!

Back when there were chilly sea breezes that could derange one’s springtime planting schedule in Portland, Maine, I once mentioned to my mother that my wife and I would like to move inland in hopes of getting reliable warmth earlier in the gardening season.

Hattie didn’t like that at all. “Oh, go ahead! Just move inland!” she said, peevishly.

In fact, perhaps more than many parents, our mother hated the idea that any of us kids would ever relocate any distance away — and we never did, though I don’t know how influential she was in that matter. (There are still good reasons to remain in Maine’s largest city.)

Like Hattie, I too am unreasonably bothered by the bugging out of people I’m close to. It’s exponentially worse when the escapee is both a good friend and a valued musical partner, which has happened a number of times, as if getting tenure at a prestigious Midwestern university, say, could in any way be better than working a crap job in Portland and playing in a dead-end band. It’s harsh to lose both a friendship and a fine musical chemistry. Both are hard to replace.

But “Someplace Else” deals with neither parental cling nor broken musical ties. Instead, I have transplanted my distaste for abandonment to the romantic sphere: This song, written and recorded in 2021, is the lament of a lover left behind.

“Someplace Else” copyright © 2021 by Douglas L. Hubley. All rights reserved.  Hear it below, buy it on Bandcamp!