Where’s Wayne?

Sometimes a whole song comes out of me all at once, from a single chord or phrase. Where’s Wayne was like that. On May 6, 2010, I recorded the first draft out on the deck in the morning sun.

With a few minor edits to the lyrics and a quick run-through with bassist Cecil DeMeerleer, it was ready for public performance that Friday at my show at The Bean in Friday Harbor, Washington.

“Lady Jane” in the Friday Harbor version was an attempted reference to Little Jane and the Pistol Whips, a toe-tapping bluegrass band from Livingston, Montana. In the first two drafts, I had the names close but not exact. The Yellowstone National Park version below has the correct lyrics. I recorded it in a swarm of mosquitoes in Firehole Canyon. I opened for Lil’ Jane at Chico Hotsprings Saloon in Pray, Montana on July 10, 2010. That was awesome. Russell Smith played bass for me on a couple waltzes. And Jodi really does have a brand new baby. Lyrics follow.

WHERE’S WAYNE
Words and music by Britt K. Arnesen

Where is Wayne? I didn’t see him at the fair today
Can’t say I’ve ever gone so long without seeing his face
Like everyone, I’m wondering about where’s Wayne
This whole small town’s debating about where’s Wayne

Little Jane says he came to the very last show she played and
Danced great, bought the band’s new record for the highway
But no now, she can’t tell me he’d gone which way
Jane joins the whole small town speculating about where’s Wayne

She said something about him must have changed
I never would have thought this town would shoo him away
Now over the diesel hum of that pickup truck his country music plays
He’s looking for a highway that leads to a doorway

And it’s the eighth of May, humming birds and jays
Garden starts, the farmer’s market, and Jodi’s got a brand new baby
Not one of us has heard from our friend Wayne
And this whole small town’s still debating about where’s Wayne

But I know something inside us has got to change
What kind of small town drives a nice young man away?
He had his radio on each and every working day
One day he turned it off, and now he’s gone

Left us all-a-wondering where is Wayne? Living in a country song out on the highway
Can’t say that without him here I’ve got a good enough reason to stay
And I’m so tired of wondering about where’s Wayne
While this whole small town’s speculating about where’s Wayne

Well I know something inside us has got to change
Before this small town drives this nice young girl away
Now over the diesel hum of my pickup truck his country music plays
Wayne showed me a doorway that leads to a highway
I’m Looking down that highway toward that doorway

Photo by Scott Pugh

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