Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Track #6 - 1991 - Performed by Spin Doctors - Lyrics by Eric Schenkman and Chris Barron
I was on the bed and she on the couch, listening to the record for what seemed like the tenth time that day. The cold November rain beat on the windows outside, and we talked of music, life, and love. We could already sing along to half the songs on the album, or at least I could; I had a knack for quickly picking up the lyrics of songs.
The first side ended, and so I flip the record over and turn to her sitting there, already with a smile on her face. I saw her there, waiting expectantly for the song to begin so she can sing responsively to my lines, her green eyes glowing with the simple joy of the moment. And I couldn't help but want her again. I dropped the needle on the player, looking straight into her eyes, and she looked right back into mine. And as the first notes drifted from the speakers, I started off, singing half the lines as she picked up the other half:
One, two princes kneel before you
That's what I said now
Princes, princes who adore you
Just go ahead now
One has diamonds in his pockets
And that's some bread, now
This one said he wants to buy you rockets
Ain't in his head, now
We sang together in turn, syncopating from each other, me standing by the record player and her sitting on the couch, our eyes locked into place, with the rhythm of the words floating back and forth between us.
I was in love with another, but the magic in this woman's eyes as she looked into mine took me to another world, one where her arms were wrapped around my neck and I could gaze into those emerald eyes from a closer place than I could scarcely dream.
This one he got a princely racket
That's what I said now
Got some big seal upon his jacket
Ain't in his head now
You marry him, your father will condone you
How 'bout that now
You marry me, your father will disown you
He'll eat his hat, now
The chorus came floating up from the wandering depths of the song, and I looked right at her and sang along, not realizing how much I was singing straight from my heart.
Marry him, marry me
I'm the one that loved you baby can't you see?
I ain't got no future or family tree
But I know what a prince and lover ought to be
I know what a prince and lover ought be
And as the song continued and her amazing eyes filled my mind, I kept thinking of those moments that we shared over the last year, and through all of it she was still here, in my room, wanting to be a part of my life in any way she could.
I thought of her sitting on a couch, calmly and casually telling a rather irate fundamentalist Christian that his conservative rhetoric was complete nonsense. She wore a white tee shirt and jeans, and her skin looked as though it had been scrubbed clean; her sandy blonde hair was tied back, and her nonchalant yet fierce intelligence burned like a beacon in my mind.
Said if you want to call me baby
Just go ahead now
I thought of her dressed up to go out on our first date, her clad in a stunning black dress and her hair tied back just right, with just the slightest dab of makeup to accentuate her already-beautiful face. Just looking at her took my breath away, and the rest of the entire evening, until we sat in the car watching the sun come up, was pure magic.
And if you would like to tell me maybe
Just go ahead now
I thought of her standing under a windmill in the middle of Iowa, holding my hand. We turned to each other as if triggered by some unknown magic, and her face glowed with a rosy pinkness in the sunset. We held each other close and came together in a long, warm embrace.
And if you want to buy me flowers
Just go ahead now
I thought of her sleeping on her couch after our only night together. I watched her sleep for a long time, her left hand bent over the top of her head and her face turned toward me, deep in the river of dreams. I wrote her a little note before I left, and I signed it with the word "Love.
And if you would like to talk for hours
Just go ahead now
I thought of her pulling into the driveway of my parents' house, driving for eight hours one way for the chance to spend a day with me. I walked out onto the front step as she pulled in, stepped out of the car, and looked at me, our eyes locking together in a gaze that would barely break for the next forty eight hours.
And if you want to call me baby
Just go ahead now
I thought of her that sad night in the park, where I told her that I had decided on another woman to share my life with. She looked down and tears immediately came to her eyes, but she did not shrug off my arm when I put it around her, and she let me wipe the tears from her eyes.
And if you would like to tell me maybe
Just go ahead now
I thought of her when she met the woman who would become my wife and how she tried as much as she could to reach out to this woman who had taken me from her without even knowing it. I saw them talk, and I could feel this tremendous amount of love for me coming from both of the women there.
And if you would like to buy me flowers
Just go ahead now
I thought of her when she came to visit me in the hospital, bringing a mountain of balloons and flowers and a new book to read. She sat there and we talked for hours and for just a moment, things went back to the way they were before everything changed.
And if you would like to talk for hours
Just go ahead now
As the song wound down, I realized it: I didn't know if I could stand another second without her in her arms. But another second passed.
There are those moments in life that you want to keep alive inside yourself, never letting the ecstasy or pain of that pristine instant leave your heart, but as the years pass, the feeling becomes faded and muted, like a photograph of your grandparents holding hands outside of the nickelodeon.
Sometimes, it just takes a song to bring those feelings back. Even one as cliche as Two Princes.
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