BY THE GRACE OF GRACIE

Lyrics and music by Winston Apple

Billy came banging on my door ‘round midnight
He said, “You’d better come quick.  
Gracie’s in trouble again.”
He said, “You know how she gets 
When she gets a little liquor in her.
And she’s been pounding down Jack all night.”

By the time we made it down to the Gin and Juice
Gracie was gone, long gone
There was blood on the floor
But everybody swore it had nothing to do with Gracie
Clearly trouble ‘d been brewed
It was hanging in the air as thick as the cigarette smoke
The Gin and Juice crew seemed a little surprised that 
For once in her life
Gracie chose to turn a rather delicate cheek 
And walked away from a fight

By the grace of Gracie I learned a lot about love
One thing I learned about Gracie 
Is that she never seems to get enough

Gracie has always depended on the kindness of strangers
To get the love she needs so desperately
Once upon a time I was the one she turned to
It took me a little too long to figure out, but eventually I realized
She was too much for me to handle, yeah she was no match for me

Gracie prays to the Party Gods at hedonistic revivals
So I chose to fall from Grace to ensure my own survival
I guess I never really realized that Gracie took it all so personally

Ooh-ooh-ooh,  my, my, my, oh my 
Ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah 

By the grace of Gracie
She’s got a lot of love for everyone else
One thing I learned about Gracie 
Is that she’s never learned to love herself

Between Billy and me we had a few good hunches 
About where we might find Gracie
But in the end we were left without a clue
We drove around all night long and we never did find her
The sun was coming up, and we had no place else to go
So Billy turned the car around and he drove me back home

Lo and behold, that’s where we finally found her
She was sleeping it off on my doorstep
She looks so sweet when she’s asleep
If you look real close, you can almost see an angel inside her
And as I carried her inside, she tried to open her eyes
But it was all she could do to smile 
And whisper with a soft and tender sigh
She said, “Baby where you been?  
I’ve been waiting for you all night.”
I said, “Lord, have mercy!  Here we go again.”

By the grace of Gracie I learned a lot about love
By the grace of Gracie, I never seem to get enough
And when it comes to Gracie, too much is never enough.

© Gary Winston Apple, 2008.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.



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