Sometimes I close my eyes
And hum the songs we loved
Your dress was blue and you
Were as bright as Christmas
And down through all the streets
The air was cool and sweet
And all we knew was brief
But seemed eternal
The first time I heard this song, I saw Matthew Ryan perform it live, solo-acoustic, at Off Broadway in St. Louis. Its imagery hit me hard that night – let’s just say my life was a mess – and Ryan’s words were weapons to my ears: the alarms, the blue dress, the things we try and say, snowmen with nuclear hearts.
Hope and fear, hope and fear.
Sometimes, it’s all you have.
Matthew Ryan has decided to release an acoustic version of Dear Lover (you can purchase it here), and while I also love the tripped-out version of “We Are Snowmen” on the original album, I really think it works better as a solo acoustic number. Because, sometimes, I like words, naked as they came, jabbing at my heart.