Get it Right Next Time

Gerry Rafferty was popular right after my divorce, a time when I was so broke I didn’t dare indulge my passion for records since I’m a binge buyer, going for months without buying an album and then indulging in a stack of CD’s costing more than a weeks’ food. By the time I could afford his CD’s they were no longer available, even in the Oldies section.

I haven’t boughten a CD in three years or more now, but since I discovered ITunes a little over a month ago I’ve bought 136 songs. One of the reasons, of course, is you can buy almost any song you’ve ever wanted without paying for songs you don’t want, and certainly don’t need.

The song I’ve craved for several years now was “Get it Right Next Time,” though I also bought “Baker Street” and “Right Down the Line” since I was buying a song from the same album. In retrospect, “Baker Street” might be a better song than “Get it Right Next Time,” but that’s not how I felt when they came out.

As I’ve noted before, I’m often disappointed in the lyrics of a song when I actually see them laying flat on the page. In fact, if I hadn’t played the song in the background on iTunes while writing about it I might have decided that my taste was so bad when the song came out that I should just keep quiet and let people think my taste in music is actually better than it is. That said, I still love playing:

Get It Right Next Time

Out on the street I was talkin’ to a man
He said “there’s so much of this life of mine that I don’t understand”
You shouldn’t worry I said that ain’t no crime
Cause if you get it wrong you’ll get it right next time, next time.

You need direction, yeah you need a name
When you’re standing in the crossroads every highway looks the same
After a while you can recognize the signs
So if you get it wrong you’ll get it right next time, next time.

Life is a liar yeah life is a cheat
It’ll lead you on and pull the ground from underneath your feet
No use complainin’, don’t you worry, don’t you whine
Cause if you get it wrong you’ll get it right next time, next time.

You gotta grow, you gotta learn by your mistakes
You gotta die a little everyday just to try to stay awake
When you believe there’s no mountain you can climb
And if you get it wrong you’ll get it right next time, next time.

Next time, u-hum

As I remember it, and I’m pretty sure I’m not remembering it accurately, this song ranked right up there with Ray Charles’ “If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck (I wouldn’t have no luck at all),” my personal, ironic, theme song for a couple of years, and Bobby Bland’s “Further On Up the Road,” revenge is a meal best served cold.

I guess I desperately needed to believe that in a dark time, you begin to see the true way more clearly, a belief that constantly battles with my cynicism borne from seeing all too clearly that some people don’t learn from their mistakes and go on repeating them forever.

2 thoughts on “Get it Right Next Time”

  1. The other good thing about iTunes (or emusic or other of the internet song shops) is when someone brings up a song, as you have, one can listen to an excerpt and also download.

    I must admit to being more fond of Baker Street at the time, but both are good.

    Thanks for the story. Thanks for the song.

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