“I’m so tired of being alone,
I’m so tired of on my own,
Won’t you help me, girl,
Just as soon as you can….
People say that I’ve found a way,
To make you say,
That you love me.
You didn’t go for that,
It’s a natural fact,
That I want to come back,
Show me where it’s at…”
© Al Green, 1968
This is one that had been on the back burner for quite a while – some time back in 2013 to be specific. I think the idea originally came either in Aylesbury in the old studio or quite possibly on the commute one day into Bracknell…
And, another odd one in that the music came first, although only part of it did. The melody, the underlying rhythm and the bass line are firmly seared into my mind. The bridges, the coda and the elements that are to hang the whole song together, took much much longer. In fact, as I recollect elsewhere, I went looking for the music over in Long Island in 2016 and ended up coming back to the UK three weeks later with Elia instead… but I never forgot this particular concept and it was a track that I was determined to complete.
The lyrics – well, part of them came pretty quick and the overall feel was pretty strong from the start but its only been in the last few days that I’ve managed to get the rest of them to the point where I’m happy with them to be the working copy ones.
The track made the KOAS album cut for Monochrome and was released in 2025…
The feel that I was looking for was somewhere between the legendary Lou Rawls classic, You’ll Never Find and early Chic, with that bossa feel behind it. It kinda found its way there through Barry White and Kool and The Gang, but it got there in the end.
The story of the song is quite simple. The person in the song is dancing with someone who is not there – not dancing by himself, but with someone who he wishes was there and who he aches for, but cannot be there, because she is in another realm, she is a ghost. And just for those few moments, when he hears their old song, she is there. And then, as the house lights come up, she disappears.
The Last Dance
V1/
Come take my hand when you hear our favourite song
The music begins and we sway and we sway
When I’m with you I’m on top of the world
In your arms my troubles are so far away,
CH/
Now starlight surrounds you all day and all night
And my promise is always you know I’ll be true
Each night the sun goes down and the moon shines so bright
Just save me the time, for one last dance with you.
V2/
Now its time for us to say our last goodbyes
Kiss your hand, hold you closer, as the song plays and we sway
Don’t let go now, no one else has ever loved you like I do
The end of the night is just moments away
CH
Bridge/
Don’t leave me alone on this empty dancefloor
Don’t wanna be on my own, without you there any more
Solo/
Bridge/
Hold me closer, come hold me tight
Stay with me now til the end of the night
V3
Now the house lights come up and like the music she fades
One more dance just for old times sake
Tell me it wont be long before I feel your hand again in mine
With all of my heart I never felt so alive
CODA/
So here I am left on this empty dance floor
Hearing our song, burning to love you just a little more
Come back, hold me, come back hold me tight
Promise you’ll stay to the end of the night…
© Words & Music Steve McCarthy-Hunt 2016
