Notes on "Love's Real Name"
This song evolved over time. in 1998 I started a sketch called "Best Friends", which didn't go anywhere in itself, but a couple of its lines turned up later in "Edson" and its chorus formed the core of this song.
In March of 2000, the Song Along topics included "Playing the Fool". Of course, "you made a fool of me" is one of the staples of pop music, but I heard it sideways, and wondered if a fool wasn't the best thing to be, sometimes. Never being a fool means never taking a chance on anyone. but of course, people do get scared into hiding after their bad experiences. So what, I thought, if there was a person who had been fooled, loudly, publicly, and repeatedly, because of trusting - and was scared, but who still had a chance at finding someone, if that someone was persistent enough to get through.
I already had this chorus - "so many people had promised her freedom" - and with the story of a woman and man threaded through it, and a few changes, this is what it became. I revised it substantially - words and music - again before recording it in 2001, so there are a few versions.
Incidentally, the topic also inspired Tom Lips to write a song about a Shakespearian actor playing the Fool in King Lear, which I liked a lot. Some years later, Tom played that part in Lear himself!
Love's Real Name
Words and Music © David Keeble, April 2000, revised 2001
She stood in the spotlight, alone, as it searched the dance floor for one lucky pair,
and it hit her that he wasn't there.
She was still waiting, but he had gone home, and everyone stopped and stared.
She thinks of that moment a lot, humiliation in front of the school.
It was the first time she felt like a fool,
trusting a stranger with all that she's got, and learning that she should not.
So many people have promised her freedom, and left her imprisoned inside her own pain,
and she has believed them, time and again.
Cause playing the fool is her only game, looking for love's real name.
She wants to believe him now, one more contender steps up with a ring
But these days she can't feel a thing,
How can she answer when part of her knows she's just waiting to watch him go?
So many people have promised her freedom, and left her imprisoned inside her own pain,
and she has believed them, time and again.
Cause playing the fool is her only game, looking for love's real name.
Her silence goes on and on, but he has got nowhere to go, he's still here.
and it seems like he sees through her fear
with all of his patience, though he is not strong. He has been waiting so long.
She takes a step toward the light, a long way to walk for a woman so torn.
Between them, hope is reborn.
Two wounded lovers, stand side by side, with nothing to lose but pride.
So many people have promised them freedom, and left them imprisoned inside their own pain,
and they have survived it, time and again.
Cause playing the fool is their only game, looking for love's real name.