Katy Says Today Is the Best Day of My Whole Entire Life

Christine Lavin

This song always reminds me of Pound's Study in Aesthetics.

Katy says "Today is the best day
Of my whole entire life!"
Katy is three years old.
We've been dancin' in the living room
To her new Tom Paxton record.
Katy's got a lot of rhythm
When she wiggles for a little kid;
She's got soul.
That night, when her mom and dad come home,
I tell them what she said to me.
I bet they'll think I'm some kind of
Baby-sitting genius
To make this little girl so darned happy.
But they smile, and they say,
"Don't take this the wrong way,
But Katy said the same thing yesterday.
Lately, she's been saying that every day."

I think back to what I know
As the best day of my life.
It was wintertime ten years ago.
We were stayin' at a farmhouse
In the middle of Vermont.
The hills were covered in Christmas trees
And freshly fallen snow.
Instantly I picture
The vivid details of that day
When you told me that you loved me more
Than you could ever say.
The air was a bracing cold,
The sky a startled blue.
Never before, or since,
Have I felt that close to you.

What does that say about you and me
And the past ten years?
I've learned to live with your silence.
You've learned to overlook my tears.
Now this dancing three year old
In her simple, perfect way
Has me questioning the basis for
The life we live today.

Katy's probably sleeping now.
I wonder if she dreams
About flying with the angels
Dancing with moonbeams.
You are here beside me,
You are snoring right out loud.
I long to kiss you on the forehead
And soothe your worried brow.
Although we have not given up,
It's been ages since we tried
To reveal the aching passion
That for years we pushed aside.
I whisper that I love you,
Because I know you cannot hear.
I turn off the light, and in the dark,
You gently pull me near.

Katy says "Today is the best day
Of my whole entire life."