Originally written in 1980, “One Day At A Time” features the passionate voice of Tami Lynn. A jazz standard that feels like a lost classic belonging to the great American songbook, the song chronicles one woman’s interior monologue amid the sights and sounds of a bustling metropolis. A sort of post-modern twist to the conventional narrative of city life, “One Day At A Time” sweeps the listener off to a subway speeding through a municipality, surrounded by strangers but alone with her internal reflections. “What went wrong?” Tami Lynn asks, as jazzy horns and keys answer her question, or are they asking too? Featuring Tami Lynn, with Harold Battiste and Jane McNealy
lyrics
Revised Lyrics 9-9-18
One Day At A Time
What went wrong
Everything I have is gone
Now I’m living in a part-time dream
And wondering where I belong
Crazy nights, Take me down a slow decline Wasting days and wasting time.
(Verse 2)
What went wrong
Can I change what’s gone
Is it make believe or is it real
And can I still go on?
Music plays
from the shadows left behind
As your laughter fills my mind.
(Chorus)
One day at a time
Fading with the vacant faces in the crowd
One day at a time
Staying out of places
That I used to hang around.
You know the memory obscures
I feel the pounding of the traffic near me
But no one sees or hears me
As I disappear....
(Instrumental)
One day at a time I feel the closeness of you always near me
But no one sees or hears me,
Calling out your name, I keep calling out your name ….
Wondering what went wrong, Everything I have is gone, What went wrong, Everything I have is gone
What went wrong, Everything I have is gone
What went wrong
