I try

Opening Hook

At night, I try to go to sleep.

In the morning, I try to get up.

Somewhere between those two ambitions,

I appear to have a life.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(I try, I try!)

Verse 1

I negotiate with my knees

like we’re settling a labor dispute.

They have demands.

I have places to be.

Neither side is moving.

I blame the motorcycle accident.

Actually, I blame it often.

It’s been years,

but why waste a perfectly good excuse?

Then Sachi starts staring at me.

Breakfast is apparently overdue.

According to her expression,

this constitutes neglect.

So I get up.

Not for discipline.

Not for personal growth.

For the dog.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

Pre-Chorus

Feet on the floor.

Give the knees a minute.

Nobody said success

had to happen standing up.

I try.

Female Backing Choir

(I try! I try!)

Chorus

I try, I try,

that’s what I do all day.

If Plan A becomes unreasonable,

I find a more civilized way.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(Every day, I try!)

I try, I try.

I refuse to call it defeat.

Sometimes independence means

knowing exactly whom to ring.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

Verse 2

I try to cook dinner.

I really do.

I enter the kitchen.

I inspect the situation.

The refrigerator offers ingredients.

Uber offers dinner.

This is not laziness.

This is comparative analysis.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

I try to clean the house.

I locate the cleaning supplies.

Then I call my niece.

Delegation is a management skill.

I have credentials.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

Verse 3

I decide I should walk today.

Fresh air. Exercise. Nature.

Excellent proposal.

I find my shoes,

which already feels productive.

Then I call my son and say,

“Come take your mother for a ride.”

Technically,

I left the house.

My fitness app and I

have agreed not to discuss it.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(At least I try!)

Chorus

I try, I try,

I give everything a chance.

Sometimes progress looks like walking.

Sometimes progress needs a ride.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

I try, I try.

There’s dignity in Plan B.

And sometimes the smartest way to do it

is finding who can do it for me.

Female Backing Choir

(I try! I try!)

(That’s good enough for me!)

Verse 4

I try to sit and write a song,

but eventually my eyes file a complaint.

I blame the reading.

I’m constantly reading.

Songs, comments, lyrics, messages…

Apparently my eyes

would like different employment.

Fair enough.

So I dictate.

Apparently technology spent billions

developing artificial intelligence

so I wouldn’t have to type.

Finally,

an appropriate use of science.

And somehow all my talking

turns into another song.

I call that productivity.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(And another song arrives!)

Bridge

I tried to cook.

Uber arrived.

I tried to clean.

My niece arrived.

I tried to walk.

My son arrived.

I tried to write.

A song arrived.

Female Backing Choir

(I try! I try!)

(I try! I try!)

At this point

I’m beginning to suspect

I have an excellent system.

Final Chorus

I try, I try,

I’ve been trying all day long.

Called Uber, called my niece,

called my son, and wrote a song.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(All day long!)

(I try, I try!)

I try, I try,

and somehow things get done.

I don’t need to conquer the world today.

Frankly,

the world hasn’t asked.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(I try, I try!)

Outro

At night, I try to go to sleep.

That’s when my brain remembers

every unfinished thought

since approximately 1987.

Excellent timing.

I turn over.

Fix the pillow.

Close my eyes.

Tomorrow I’ll try again.

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

But not too early.

Let’s be reasonable.

I had a challenge with my dear friend,

Kate Austin,

a very talented artist.

She wrote “Lousy Day.”

I was supposed to write “I Try.”

Kate won.

She finished hers first.

And me?

I’m still here

trying to finish “I Try.”

Female Backing Choir

(I try, I try!)

(I try, I try!)

I try.

I try.

I try.

And apparently…

I’m still trying.

Female Backing Choir

(I try! I try!)

(I try! I try!)