Story Behind The Song

My grandfather actually did live in France and a friend once accused me of making that up. The WWII details are embellishments to make the story kind of unbelievable. I wanted to write a short story in three verses where the narrator has an interaction in a store and he lies and then finds himself in trouble and if he could communicate and tell the truth he would be okay but he can't do that. I love the idea of a little whit lie snowballing into an oncoming blizzard from the rockies and he's stranded. There is a nod to the LGBT community because the grandfather supposedly saved Jewish people and gays in WWII.

Song Description

This a song about the complications of love, of the truth, of communication, all wrapped up in a trip to CVS where a kid sees a tattoo on the narrator's arm and the narrator spins an engaging lie -- and when he realizes he's stranded in the parking lot, he can't even call the man he loves the most in the world and who lives a couple blocks away. The song is in E major and the vibe is all school folk-rock from SoCal.

Lyrics

The labyrinth of Chartres is tattooed on my arm

And when the kid at CVS asks I don't see any harm

In making up some story about a French grandfather in World War II harboring Jews

But by the time I'm in the parking lot I almost believe it's true

I almost believe it too


It's never good to feel like you are floating above yourself

Or forget chunks of days like your brain is on a shelf

I eat a little Debbie Cake with a cool PBR in my car and if I lie

One more time I swear to god I'll crack open the sky

And I don't even know why


Only crows and dolphins and humans know how to lie

The parking lot is empty cause a big storm's coming through tonight

From the eastern Rockies, my battery's shot and you live just a few blocks south

I've loved you more than anyone but I couldn't ask for help

If there was a siren in my mouth