DSA 2005 SPRING LYRIC
2ND PLACE WINNER
(Click Here For Judge's Critique)

Unknown Caller
© 2004 Brian Kerr

VERSE  

            You’re not at home

But I don’t leave a message on your telephone

I’d only leave a mess of mumbled monotone

            You’d never call

And I’d pretend I didn’t really care at all

I know this game I’m playing isn’t fair at all

            Day after day

I’m just an “unknown caller” on your call display

If you ever picked it up, I don’t know what I’d say

CHORUS  

            I’m here washing glasses

            Other people’s ashes

            While I love you still

            And I often think my silence

            Hurts me worse than any violence

            Sometimes I want to holler

            At you, “I’m the Unknown Caller!”

            But I know how hard I’ve tried

            And I’m aware deep down inside

                                    That I never will

VERSE  

            So every night

I watch you selling roses - yellow, red and white

Waiting for the moment when the time is right

            I take a break

I tell the boss I have a call I need to make

I can see you in the room, so there’ll be no mistake

            You’re standing there

A strobe light sending diamonds dancing through your hair

As I listen to your voice tell me you’re out somewhere

CHORUS
 

VERSE  

            I hear the beep

Reminding me of promises I’ll never keep

And I know when I get home I’ll never fall asleep

            Sold your last rose

You can go, but I’ll be here till after close

Not long before you see your “unknown caller” I supposed

            No place to hide

I wish I had a dollar for each time I tried

To free this unknown caller who’s locked up inside

CHORUS

VERSE  

            What can I do?

So you’ll stop selling flowers that should be for you

And I stop selling off the hours between me and you

            How long until

I find a way to tell you that I love you still

Till somehow I’m compelled to say I always will

            When I get home

I find it just the way I left it – all alone

And there’s no unknown caller on my telephone