Name: I Can't Change You
Duration: P00H03M49S
Description: I wrote this years ago, out of a response to a relative who was struggling with addiction. Finally got around to recording it while in Santa Fe last spring in 2020. Your help with offsetting the recording expenses will support me in recording other pieces. Thanks for listening!

I Can't Change You

by Richard Schwartz

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about

I wrote this years ago, out of a response to a relative who was struggling with addiction. Finally got around to recording it while in Santa Fe last spring in 2020. Your help with offsetting the recording expenses will support me in recording other pieces. Thanks for listening!

lyrics

I can gently reassure you that the pain you have won’t last
I can lie and say it’s possible to re-arrange the past
I can scream when you hurt yourself this way
I can cry when you ignore the words I say

CHORUS:
But I can’t change you
Gonna have to let it go
I can’t change you
Though I wish it wasn’t so
I can care for you, be there for you
I can shame you
But I can’t change you

I used to worship you when we were in high school
With your pony tail and tied-dyed jeans
You turned me on to reggae, politics, and hackey-sack
And were the first to get me stoned
Now you’re here askin’ me for money again
I say, get real, and then I offer you a ten

CHORUS

Each high another petal of your being falls down
Each alibi another piece of me gets buried underground
Still, I believe in you
I still believe

But I can’t change you
I can hardly change myself
I can’t change
Nor can anybody else
I can care for you, be there for you
I can shame you
But I can’t change you

credits

released April 6, 2021
Recorded at Kabby Sound Studios on June 4, 2020

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Richard Schwartz Los Angeles, California

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