Ring From My Finger
I wrote “Ring From My Finger” about something my father said.
After his separation from my mother he remarried. Sharon was a brittle and antagonistic woman and my mom didn’t make it easy on her. Knowing my mother’s capacity for snark I would be tempted to give Sharon the benefit of the doubt if subsequent events hadn’t revealed her character.
When my father began his decline into the dementia which would rule his excruciating final 6 years she left him.
This would have been when I was 19 and 20 years old and living in LA. I would drive or fly back to Olympia on holidays to be with my dad and to try and support his care-workers who, unbeknownst to me, were stealing from and abusing him. Seriously, it’s a tragic tale that has no happy beginning, middle or end, unless you think this song somehow makes it worth it, which I do not.
In the midst of these sad and precious times, during one of his fewer and fewer moments of clarity I found my dad worrying his wedding ring and muttering how he couldn’t get it off his finger.
Lyrics
Ring From My Finger
The music has stopped
but I can’t stop the singer
and I cannot get your ring from my finger
The dining room table is set like you set it when you left
The wine bottle has not been opened
and a dusty old cobweb
is hanging from my cigarette
and only your vows have been broken
The music has stopped
but I can’t stop the singer
and I cannot get your ring from my finger
I tried and I tried but it wouldn’t budge past my knuckle
It clung to me like it belonged there
and I tried and tried to laugh it off
but I could not even chuckle
and could not take it any longer
The music has stopped
but I can’t stop the singer
and I cannot get your ring from my finger
Now I don’t go into the dining room anymore
I eat my meals in the kitchen
and only ever think about you
when I walk past the door
or when I try to count to ten
The music has stopped
but I can’t stop the singer
and I cannot get your ring from my finger
Credits
Written by Andras Jones
Engineered by Mike Deneen, Colin Mahoney & Earle Mankey
Andras Jones – Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
John Nason – Electric Guitar
Marshall Thompson – Piano & Keyboards
R. Walt Vincent – Bass Guitar
Colin Mahoney – Drums
Purchase
$1.50