American Beauty (A Song)

Once upon a time, I recorded an album. It cost me a fortune, but I wanted to do it right. And I think I did. The album is called Standing Still, and even though that damned Jewel released a single with the same title a month after my album was released, I forgive her.

The first song on the album is American Beauty. It's a unique song for me, as it really actually wrote itself. You can compare this narrative to the lyrics below. Everything actually did happen.

It was three AM. I was at a coffee house in Redondo Beach, California, again. I spent a lot of time there. The coffee house was called The Insomniac. I was buzzing my brains out on coffee, smoking a cigarette, and reading The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. My friend Tom (a songwriter and artist of epic talent) was in the next room, plugged into the house amp, playing blues solos. Just for fun. Me, I was sitting at a table in the back, in the shadows, being my usual mysterious self.

And then, this girl walked in. It was amazing...I remember FEELING her walk into the place. She was beautiful. The romantic in me was immediately all over the situation. She was dressed all in black...with long, crazy black hair. She ordered a cup of coffee and then walked right up to my table. She said hi. Her name was Jillian. (I know, because she told me so). She was new in town, from San Francisco. Hitchhiked from there to Los Angeles, just over the weekend. She looked at me like she had known me all my life. She picked up my book, and she wrote her number inside the front cover. "You'd better call me", she said. "You'll disappoint me if you don't".

And then she turned and walked away.

Did I mention that she was beautiful?

So, I called. She didn't answer. I left a message, and she never called me back. But by that time, it was all good. Jillian from San Francisco had given me the gift of a song. I sat down and simply recalled the night exactly as it had happened. And it became American Beauty. I never heard back from her. And I never found out anything about her. But I still have that book, with her number and her name written on the front cover. More valuable to me than if Kerouac himself had autographed it.

AMERICAN BEAUTY
words and music by DINO ROMANELLI

Another three AM insomniac
Drinking too much coffee, smoking
And reading Jack Kerouac
Listening to the guitar play
The blues for my soul
Hanging in the shadows
At the table way in the back

Then in from the night she came
My heart beat thunder
My blood burst right into flame
She was beautiful in black, she was
I know I'll never be the same

And her name was Jillian
I know because she told me so
She hitched a ride here just last weekend
She came from San Francisco
Oh, American beauty won't you
Take me with you where you go

Long dark hair and soft white skin she had
When she looked at me
I knew I never wanted anything so bad
American beauty, she is all that it takes
You know that girl drives me mad

And her name was Jillian
I know because she told me so
She hitched a ride here just last weekend
She came from San Francisco
Oh, American beauty won't you
Take me with you where you go

If you have any interest in my album, you can purchase a hard copy (CD) here:

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/dinoromanelli

Or you can download it at iTunes, or almost anywhere else you can find independent artist album downloads.