Leave Out All The Rest [Lyrics]

[VERSE 1]

I was sittin' alone at an empty bar,
With an old bartender and burnt out cigar -
Telling stories of my foolish broken heart,
And letting the alcohol take it's part.
There were tears streaming down my face,
When that bartender smiled at me with grace,
He threw his towel down as he turned and said:
"Young man, this is all in your foolish head."
He picked up that folded up picture I had with me,
With tears in his eyes he asked: "Can't you see? ...

[CHORUS]

It doesn't matter how many times you cry,
There is love burning in this girls eyes,
I can tell right now that you remember the first date,
When her parents told you to have her back by eight,
Your heart was beating as you walked her to her door,
Softening your lips as you ran your eyes over the dress she wore,
And when you leaned in she smiled and walked away,
Teasing in hopes of a phone call from you the next day.
When you called, I bet you can remember her shaky voice,
But I bet you never thought that she knew she had a choice -
Forsake what everyone says and give you a chance at her heart -
Which did she choose? Can you remember back to the start?
The little things matter the most," the bartender confessed -
"Now it's up to you to leave out all the rest."

[VERSE 2]

He gave me back that picture I had with tears in his eyes
As he looked behind him to a picture on the wall and sighed,
"That there is my wedding day with my golden little Mary,
The first thing I notice are her lips colored in red as cherry,
And the look in her eyes - I can see how scared she'd been,
She couldn't hide her feelings behind that beautiful grin,
And young man, it's been four years sober now getting clean,
Since the cancer took her from me when she turned nineteen.
She gave me a daughter - with blue eyes and golden curls,
And when I look in that little girls eyes I see my world;
I'm not saying we had a perfect relationship, no,
In fact we constantly fought but we gave love a go -
People always told us we were too young to start a family,
But we were old enough and age doesn't matter to me
Because...

[CHORUS]

It doesn't matter how many times I cried,
There was always love burning in that girls eyes,
I can tell you right now that I remember our first time,
We were seventeen, it was a quarter past nine,
Sitting out in my old black chevy by the lake,
When she looked at me, didn't care if it was a mistake,
There was passion burning through her eyes of blue,
Replaced later with tears when she was long overdue,
There was a child on the way because we couldn't wait,
But still; she saw it as a sign sent to us from fate.
And I remember that baby's first steps on the bedroom floor,
Something her Mother happened to be so excited for,
And I looked up to the bright blue sky and shouted to her,
That it was finally here - the first steps of our daughter,
I knew I had her love with me, that girl and I were so blessed,
So it was up to me to leave out all the rest."

[VERSE 3]

I looked at that old bartender as he walked away from me,
But he smiled as he walked back with a pot of coffee,
And there were stories hidden in his bright green eyes,
Draped in a clutter of many painful good-byes,
And he looked over to me as he handed me a tissue,
Smiling he said: "The rest is now up to you."
Walking home that night I ran it over in my head,
And saw her standing at the door waiting when I said:

[CHORUS]

"Baby it doesn't matter how many times we've cried,
Through it all, I've found that me and you - we collide,
And I'm sick of all these little fights, can't take anymore,
I want to go back to the way that we were before,
So if you feel the same, reach out and take my hand,
And together - united - we can solemnly stand,"
What she said next I never would have guessed,
When she took my hand and said: "Leave out all the rest."
And that moon shone bright on her beautiful face,
When I seen her smile at me with the same hint of grace,
As I seen on that bartenders face earlier tonight,
And I could feel her heart beating as I held her tight,
Whispering in her ear: "Baby, I have one simple request,
Let's live this life together with smiles, leave out all the rest."

...I was sitting alone at an empty bar,
With an old bartender and burnt out cigar,
When I knew what I blamed on my foolish heart,
Was all in my foolish head from the start.

-Jenna Elphick
May 20, 2007

((May be a bit confusing but the bartender is the girl's Father and the guy realizes that at the end when he sees his smile in her.))