One Track Mind: Pat Dailey - Being Me

Awhile back I put this song on one of my mix CDS. One night my wife & I happened to be listening to the CD before bed and this song came on. She asked why I'd put it on the CD. I told her to pay attention to the lyrics.

Being Me
by: Pat Dailey

I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup
And as the world assembles
I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like being me

I am a man who wants no telephone
I have no need to speak when I'm alone
My friends say I'm reclusive
Well I guess I would agree
That's just what it's like being me

I spend my days thinking of the song
Sometimes all the words just come out wrong
On those days I do nothing
but just sit down by the sea
That's just what it's like being me

One time I tried to throw my heart around
But it wound up in pieces on the ground
Now I make no promise and I get no guarantee
That's just what it's like being me

Nothing lasts forever so they say
And tomorrow is not mine like yesterday
So I hold on to these passing moments most tenaciously
That's just what it's like being me

And I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup
And as the world assembles I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like being me

When the song was finished she looked at me and said, "that song is so you." She's absolutely right, I've never heard any other songs that I could relate to on the level I relate to this one.

Pat Dailey - Raw Bars (1998)

Welcome everybody to my place
You can pull up a chair
Or just pull up a face

We've got all we need
The only thing that we lack
Is a rich, dumb, young nymphomaniac

As a Cedar Point employee, near closing time at the employee bar back in 1998 that was my introduction to the music of Pat Dailey.

Raw Bars is pure fun. There's not a serious song to be found on this album. Whether you're looking for A Doobie and a brew and some poontang too or are a fan of Raw Bars (especially the ones with Liquor (lick her) in the front, and poker (poke her) in the rear) you'll more than likely, end up singing along to these amusing drinking songs.

That is to say that this is the kind of music to listen to when you're sick of listening to all that other music that takes life too seriously. The songs are fun and upbeat and certainly not meant to be enjoyed in the presence of young ones. This music should appeal to the teenager (or the dirty old man) in everyone.

Pat Dailey - Great American Saturday Night (2000)

This CD is the ultimate mix of Pat's serious and fun sides. While his last CD was all fun with no serious material, this song has a nice blend of both (with the majority of the songs being fun).

His poignant and nakedly autobiographical Being Me was actually also the working title for this album. With hints of melancholy the song also captures Pat's laidback lifestyle as the Great Lakes answer to Jimmy Buffet:

I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup...

And as the world assembles
I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like
Being me

The similarly autobiographical Here In the North is as much an anthem for the Great Lakes region as Buffet's Margaritaville or Changes in Latittudes Changes in Attitudes are anthems for the Caribbean:

Here in the north
We're just further from the sun
But the geese still fly
And the rivers still run

As on many of Dailey's most recent albums, much of the material was either written or co-written by the late poet Shel Silverstein. The album was released shortly after Silverstein's passing in 1999 and is dedicated to him.

Silverstein's wit is most evident on Father's Last Words in which a father on his deathbed is giving his sons one last bit of advice... "Never turn down a chance to get laid" even mentioning at one point, "If she's ugly, son, just pull down the shade." and on You're There in which a man is torn between being pleased that his wife is always around when he wants/needs her to be and lamenting the fact that she's always there even when he doesn't want her to be around.

In July 2000 I had the chance to enjoy one of Pat's live concerts at the Beer Barrel in Put-In-Bay, OH. It was easily the best concert I've ever seen. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time and I look forward to someday going back to see Pat live at the Beer Barrel. While this CD is exceptional, I reccommend going to see Pat live if you ever get the chance. His CDs don't quite capture the energy and atmosphere of his concerts.