Jenna White

Café

This is the first full original song I have ever written and it reflects some of my best memories from my time spent in Paris last semester. When you are away from home for a while, you naturally reach out to find something welcoming, and I found that comfort in the cafés in my arrondissement. The cafés were a great mix of regulars that you came to know by name and background, and the new people who would be sharing the space with you for only that night. I tried to combine both of those aspects through the interplay between the verses and chorus. The verses highlight the familiar faces, and the chorus is striving to capture the affect of a room bubbling with people. I want to also thank my brother Bryan and Josh Morrison for lending their guitar skills to this composition.

Lyrics

Café — Jenna White

Listening intently
Is the server at the bar.
Her knowing smile greets the man
Seeking refuge from the stars.

The night's too dark, hes lost his way
But perched upon his stool,
He's three feet from the ground
And the world that seemed so cruel.

[chorus]

At the café at night
Glasses empty, voices rise.
Conversation interrupted,
By fervent hellos and goodbyes.
At the café at night
Glasses empty, voices rise.
A call rings through let's give a toast
To memory's demise.

Watching the hands closely
Is the server at the bar.
She's in a race against the clock
And two is not so far.
Emptiness sinks in
As she preps for all her chores,
In no rush to go back home
Where friends and laughter are no more.

[chorus]

And when I look around
Everybody's laughing
When I look around
Their troubles have diffused
Into glances and words
That everybody's sharing
And they all won't leave.

At the café at night
I stand up against the noise,
"Can everybody hear me?"
And tout dit "c'était la folie."
At the café at night
Glasses empty, voices rise.
We all call out let's give a toast,
To memory's demise
To memory's demise
To memories...