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The Lesson

from Diesel Town by Rick Todd

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about

I call it the Toolbox Theory of love. Each of us is given an emotional toolbox that we use to build a personal version of received and expressed love. Some toolboxes hold only rudimentary hand tools, others are crammed with the finest electric power gadgets. Dad had a limited set of tools, like maybe only a screwdriver and a hunk of baling wire. But, he did the best he could with what he had. It was only late in his life that I picked up a hint about where his emotional tools came from. That's the lesson.

lyrics

THE LESSON

I should be able to play this song
Bang it out on a one string guitar
It's said a true craftsman never blames his tools
But love don't play by these rules

You take what you're given, you do what you can
There's no stone tablet on how to be a woman or a man
You love the way that you were loved
Until your heart breaks in two
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you

He sat in the chair, didn't say a thing
I battered him with questions, confused and angry
With trembling lips and brimful eyes
Words can deceive but the body never lies

You take what you're given, you do what you can
There's no stone tablet on how to be a woman or a man
You love the way that you were loved
Until your heart breaks in two
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you

Thirty years later, after a few shots of scotch
From out of nowhere, these words from his heart
He said "My old man wouldn't say shit
Not even if his mouth was full of it"

You take what you're given, you do what you can
There's no stone tablet on how to be a woman or a man
You love the way that you were loved
Until your heart breaks in two
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson will come to you
If you can put it back together
Maybe the lesson

credits

from Diesel Town, released July 1, 2023
Rick Todd: Vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass
Dan Rankins: Pedal steel guitar
Matt Dwyer: Dobro

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Rick Todd Amarillo, Texas

Rick Todd is a songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist based in Amarillo, Texas. His music resonates from a space between Americana, folk, and country. After a few lifetimes as a Telecaster-slinging rocker, farm manager, studio producer and engineer, and award-winning research scientist, Todd turned his creative talents to making music once again. The result is Diesel Town. ... more

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