BLUES FOR ELFRIDA

                 Em                                  D
She wore grey like the city and green like the sky,
                Am                            D          Em
She was soft as a kitten and hard as a stone.
             Em                                  D
All the promise I wanted was there in her eye
                Am                                           D                Em               
And the one thing I couldn't do was leave her alone.
                  C                                           Em
Though I never could read her, she always played fair,
               D                                Em
Give me blues for Elfrida, to show her I care.

I had gold for her finger and red for her feet,
I was ready to take her wherever she said.
I had dreams, I had schemes, all my plans were complete,
I was ready to follow her wherever she led.
But I just couldn't lead her back into the light;
So play blues for Elfrida, who knew she was right.

Now there's black for my buttons and white for my face
And a big ruffled collar to keep my neck warm.
All the love that she needed got lost in the chase
And the one thing I couldn't do was keep her from harm.
If I'd shown her I need her, she might be here still...
So I'll play blues for Elfrida,
'cause no-one else will.

If you're interested, the song was written by Orville Torres, the bassist in my fictional group Gestalt. He's about the closest to a real musician of all of them, and predictably isn't saying whether there was a real Elfrida or not. When they play it, it has a sort of Nights In White Satin feel, and there's an oboe solo between the second and third verses. This chafes Torres no end because he keeps thinking it ought to be rockier and can't work out how.