Front Porch Failure

She waves at me from next door

Like she’s done a thousand times before

And I freeze up like an idiot

Trying to think of something clever to say

She asks me how my day went

I say, “Good,” and then I walk away

Could’ve told her she looks beautiful

Instead I talked about the weather again

I can play guitar in front of a crowd

I can scream my lungs out, I can turn it up loud

But when she looks my way

All my confidence quits its fucking job

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know

I’m standing right here putting on a show

She smiles at me and I lose control

God, I wish she’d read my mind

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t see

She’s everything I want her to be

And I’m one bad joke from insanity

Just trying to get her to notice me

She borrows sugar, I give her two

Like that’s somehow gonna get me through

She says, “You’re such a good neighbor”

Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear

I thought about writing her a letter

Then remembered I can’t spell “forever”

So I threw it in the trash instead

And rehearsed saying “Hey” in my head

I can fix a truck with a busted transmission

I can write a song without asking permission

But asking her out?

That’s a fucking dangerous mission

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know

I’m standing right here putting on a show

She smiles at me and I lose control

God, I wish she’d read my mind

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t see

She’s everything I want her to be

And I’m one bad joke from insanity

Just trying to get her to notice me

Maybe I’m waiting for a sign

Maybe she’s given me a hundred

And I’m too damn blind

Maybe tomorrow I’ll finally say

“What if I asked you out?”

Instead of watching her walk away

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know

But maybe tonight I’m gonna let it show

No more hiding behind hellos

No more wasting time

She doesn’t know, but she might tonight

If I can find the nerve to get it right

Maybe she’ll laugh, maybe she’ll say no

But at least she’ll finally know

She waves at me from next door

And this time I don’t wave back and run

I take one breath, walk across the lawn

And say, “Hey… you wanna have some fun?”