Story Behind The Song

My trumpet player is also a banker, and when colleagues at the bank asked him when he might retire, he would say: "Save yourself, and get out while you can." I thought that could be the kernel of a good song, although it would have to be a dark one. The despondent individual in this song is fictional, but when I first auditioned it at a songwriting workshop, one of the participants said "I lived with that woman." That's real enough for me.

Song Description

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can't pull someone back from their abyss of self-pity, and it might drag you down too.

Lyrics

Save Yourself

VERSE:
I felt so helpless when her demons took her down.
Like watching in slow motion
Titanic on the ocean
Sinking with the lifeboats all around.
I imagined I could rescue her,
A hero in my head.
When I reached out for the last time,
She turned away and said:

CHORUS:
Save yourself a whole lotta heartache,
Save yourself the misery.
Don't run back in a burning house,
Don't come back for me.---
I don't want any help from anyone else,
Just save yourself, save yourself.

VERSE:
Our love had burned out years ago, all the ashes were cold.
It didn't take no mystic gypsy
To predict the pills and whiskey
Would melt her mind and sabotage her soul.
And she said, "I don't need your pity,
I know what I am.
And you don't owe me nothing,
So get out while you can."
(REPEAT CHORUS)

BRIDGE:
And she wouldn't take a thing from me,
She'd rather die first.
And before I drove away, I said to her:

LAST CHORUS:
Girl, save yourself, and save me the heartache.
Save us both the misery.
Standing outside while you burn your house
Is the hardest part for me---
You won't take any help from anyone else,
You gotta save yourself, save yourself.