I don’t think “I Could Be the One” is among my best songs. I like the chorus really well, musically and lyrically, but I’m not wild about either the verses or the bridge. I wrote it back in the 1980s as one of my few attempts to write something commercial for Nashville.
I was rarely any good at such attempts.
Recently, however, in my expanded creative life writing fiction, I was able to borrow that good chorus from the song and use it in a short story that I also titled “I Could Be the One.”
Here’s the chorus as I revised it for the short story . . .
I could be the lover of your dreams
I could be the stitch to bind your seams
I could be strong when your strength is gone
I could be the one
When the nights are cold and you’re so blue
You need somebody warm to hold on to
Girl, don’t you run to no midnight sun
I could be the one
I wrote the story in response to a call for contributions to an anthology that is likely to be pretty widely read, and I was blown away when I received the acceptance email. As Agatha Christie famously said, “Well, here’s to crime” (that’s a red herring).
I also made the story a prequel to my next novel, Streets of Nashville, which Madville Publishing will release on April 15, 2025. To learn a bit more about the process leading up to the contract for Streets, check out my query letter via the great Alex Kenna‘s blog that features samples of this important step in the publication process.
While I can’t say much more about the short story yet (contract pending), I’m terrifically excited about where it is ending up. I hope you’ll read it if you get a chance.
More later!
I Could Be the One
I have watched you be deceived by men with silver tongues
Their pretty lies just go straight to you heart
And I have wished it could be me that you run to in the night
Oh, I would hold you and never let you fall apart
I could be the pleasure in your dreams
I could be the stitch that binds your seems
I could be strong when your strength is gone
I could be the one
When you go to bed at night, do you lie awake and cry,
Wondering why true love is so hard to find?
If I had the nerve, girl, I would walk right up to you
And let you know the love you’re looking for is mine
I could be the pleasure in your dreams
I could be the stitch that binds your seems
I could be strong when your strength is gone
I could be the one
Some night in this lonely town
I’m gonna be there when you turn around
Maybe then you’ll finally see
That I’m right on time with the love you need
I could be the pleasure in your dreams
I could be the stitch that binds your seems
I could be strong when your strength is gone
I could be the one
When the nights are long and you’re so blue
And you need someone to hold on to
Girl, don’t you run to no midnight sun
I could be the one
P.S. Here’s the initial catalog entry for Streets of Nashville . . .
