Shakespeare's Sonnet 122: "Thy Gift, Thy Tables"

Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain
Full character'd with lasting memory,
Which shall above that idle rank remain
Beyond all date, even to eternity; 
Or at the least, so long as brain and heart 
Have faculty by nature to subsist;
Till each to razed oblivion yield his part
Of thee, thy record never can be miss'd. 
That poor retention could not so much hold, 
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score; 
Therefore to give them from me was I bold, 
To trust those tables that receive thee more: 
   To keep an adjunct to remember thee 
   Were to import forgetfulness in me.

         --William Shakespeare

B-SIDE

Lyrics from an Old Notebook (mid-80's vintage):

You need to imagine Early Elvis Costello crossed with The Smithereens here, if you want to be kind.  Oh, and you have to recall vinyl records, especially singles, with A-sides and B-sides.


B-SIDE
I'm here breaking records
While he's out stealing shows
The anger doesn't bother me
It's just how much she knows
I've been hanging around now
Till I feel like packing it in
It's not a case of do-or-die
But more like where-and-when


These things I discover
Make it easier to decide
He's her A #1 Lover
I'm just lying on the b-side


I need to break her records
I need to break her heart
But like a fool I'm waiting
Because I loved her at the start


These things I discover 
Make it easier to decide
He's her A #1 Lover
I'm just lying on the b-side

--MD



(Until a few minutes ago, the second verse had a full eight lines too.   Here is the part I just cut:

I give her all my money

I give her all my love

Still she goes out shopping

Hopping in--I know--his hot tub

Pretty lame, that hot tub line, but I wanted . . . well, who knows now what I wanted then?  I do think the lyrics still work, after all these years, as a rock and roll song, particularly with those four lines excised.  Now, if I could remember the tune in my head at the time too . . . .)