Paying 'mechanicals'
by Paula Joy Welter

I went to get my faithful and dauntless Honda CVCC's oil changed at a Placerville, California, garage one day with guitar in hand. Afterward I was on my way to a guitar lesson with my favorite guitarist in the world, Nina Gerber, in the Bay Area, a long drive away.

As the mechanic, Tony, wrote up the paperwork to begin the maintenance on my Honda, I asked if he minded if I changed guitar strings during the wait. He said he didn't mind at all, so I sat in the reception area and did just that.

Just as I finished changing the last string and was bending down to put my guitar back in its case...Tony walked back in, finished with the oil change...and said, "You can't put that guitar away until you play me a tune," in a kidding way, but meaning it. I said, "Okay. I've played in stranger places!"

I sat down and sang a tune I wrote for a far-away sister called "Deep Within Wisconsin Green." When I finished, he said that he would love to hear another.

For some reason, I felt like playing a tune I wrote called "Joanna's Gift." It's a true story that happened to my friend, Joanna, which I put to song after hearing about the moment from her (see lyrics below).

I played the tune. When I finished, I glanced up, ready to get going. I was a little embarrassed when I realized that Tony looked to be on the verge of tears, and not ready to speak. Since most men I know don't like to be seen in that space, I looked away and made some small talk, putting my guitar, finally, in its case.

When I asked him how much the bill was for the maintenance on the Honda, he said, "Nothing is owed, just sign this," and handed me the invoice listing the repairs. On the bottom, in the line where the payment total is usually written, it said "Two songs."

I didn't feel that was fair enough compensation, so I got a CD out of the trunk of my car to give him, which he happily accepted.

I later told my friend, Joanne, the inspiration for this song, about this moment. She was living downstairs from me at the time, and we shared moments over tea sometimes. It was just a moment that stuck in my mind as powerful in unspoken ways.

Interestingly, Joanne told me that she knew Tony, too, since she also takes her Honda there for repairs. She happened to know that he had lost his wife a year or two before and was now raising a young daughter on his own. All this time, I thought he was happily married. I didn't know he'd been through that loss, though I'd taken my car to him for years.

Before sharing the music, I never felt Tony was the kind of guy that really said much to anyonekind of private and to himself. After that moment of music shared, however, Tony and I always had a nice conversation whenever I'd go in. He'd ask me about my music and travels, and I'd ask him about his latest adventures, which he talked about much more readily.

Eventually he married again and had another child. Now he looks a lot happier and more carefree whenever I've gone in to get more work on my Honda done.

Here's the song:

JOANNA'S GIFT

Verse I:

SHE STOOD IN LINE AT STOP 'N SHOP,
GROCERIES AND HER PRIVATE THOUGHTS,
WHITE ROSES FILLED JOANNA'S CART,
BUT NOT THE ACHING COLDNESS IN HER HEART.

Verse II:

THEN ABOVE THE MARKET'S NOISE
JOANNA HEARD A WOMAN'S VOICE
"SUCH LOVELY FLOWERS YOU HAVE TODAY,"
AS FINGERS REACHED TO STROKE THE SWEET BOUQUET.

CHORUS:

SOMETIMES STRANGERS TOUCH OUR LIVES
LIKE SOOTHING RAIN FROM SUMMER SKIES.
SOMETIMES STRANGERS HAVE A WAY
OF HEARING WHAT WE CANNOT SAY.
SOME HAVE FLOWERS, SOME HAVE NONE,
BUT THE FRAGRANCE AND THE SORROWS SHARED
ARE COMMON CORDS THAT BIND US ALL AS ONE.

Verse III:

JOANNA KEPT HER TEARS INSIDE,
BUT SAID "THIS WEEK, MY MOTHER DIED. "
THE STRANGER SAID, "I MISS MINE TOO,"
AND THEN THEY TALKED AS ONLY WOMEN DO.

Verse IV:

JOANNA PAID AND TURNED TO GO,
BUT FIRST SHE LET SOME KINDNESS GO;
IN GIVING HALF HER FLOWERS AWAY,
SHE FELT SOME ACHING COLDNESS MELT THAT DAY

CHORUS REPEATS, then again:

SOME HAVE FLOWERS, SOME HAVE NONE,
BUT THE FRAGRANCE AND THE SORROWS SHARED
ARE COMMON CORDS THAT BIND US ALL AS ONE.

Copyright 1994 PAULA JOY WELTER
P.O. Box 660004, Sacramento, CA 95866-0004

Paula Joy Welter is an "occasionally touring singer/songwriter mostly now performing on the western side of the U.S." Learn more by visiting her Web site at www.paulajoywelter.com or sending her an e-mail at paulajoy@quiknet.com.

Comments? E-mail the editor at djohnson@folklinks.com.

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