I’m sharing a piece of my soul with you today—a song called "[Title of Song - e.g., Tears in My Eyes]". This isn't just music; it's the sound of that deep, quiet ache you feel when a memory is all you have left of a love that was everything.

When I wrote this, I wanted to capture the exact feeling of standing still while the world moves on. The slow, soulful tempo and the 3/4 or 4/4 gentle rhythm are meant to feel like a slow, heavy heartbeat—the one that keeps going even when you don't want it to.

Listen closely to the instruments. The acoustic guitar's gentle fingerpicking sets a reflective mood, like looking out a frosted window. The mandolin's light shimmer isn't joyful; it's meant to sound like delicate, fragile tears falling softly, echoing the sentiment in my voice. The fiddle carries the full weight of the heartbreak with those long, expressive, mournful notes that truly make the loneliness echo.

And then there's Kathy Trevelyan.

Kathy’s voice is the absolute anchor of this track. She doesn't just sing the words; she lives them. She elevates simple country folk into something profound. Listen to the way she carries the soaring, expressive lines in the chorus: when she hits "I still love you, and I cry," you don't just hear emotion—you hear the sound of memory crashing down, making the sadness almost beautiful. Her vocal layering on that final line adds a raw, emotional depth that transforms mere lyrics into a universal ache.

This song is my way of looking at the empty space you left behind and finding a fragile kind of peace in the sheer honesty of the pain. It's for you, and for anyone who understands that sometimes, the most loving thing you can do is just look back and let the tears fall like rain.

[Verse 1]
I’m standing here, with my head bowed low,
Watching the ground where your footprints go,
Tears fill my eyes, I can’t hold back,
Wishing you could come back.  

[Verse 2]
Your memory’s a ghost I can’t shake,
A hollow ache I just can’t fake,
Every moment, I feel the loss,
Counting the cost.  

[Chorus]
Tears in my eyes, falling like rain,
Drowning in this endless pain,
Wish I could turn back time,
Hold you once more, make you mine.
But you’re gone, my love, out of sight,
Leaving shadows in the night,
Tears in my eyes, I can’t deny,
I still love you, and I cry.  

[Verse 3]
The world keeps turning, but I stand still,
Lost in memories I can’t fill,
Your shadow haunts my every breath,
Forever in my death.  

[Bridge]
Maybe someday I’ll find some peace,
But tonight, that’s out of reach,
All I have are memories,
And tears on my knees.  

[Outro]
So I’ll keep looking at the ground,
Hoping someday I’ll hear your sound,
Until that day, I’ll just cry,
With tears in my eyes.

Tears in My Eyes

All or Nothin' (Deluxe Edition)

You Can't Talk to Me Like That

Not A Pretty Girl

Hour Follows Hour

Mignonette

Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane

Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1

Bring Me a Little Water, Sylvie

Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. Her most recent album is the June 2023 25th Anniversary Edition reissue of her seminal album 'Little Plastic Castle' on Righteous Babe Records.  Her memoir 'No Walls and the Recurring Dream' was a New York Times Top 10 best seller in 2019, and her debut children’s book 'The Knowing' is out now.

Hour Follows Hour

Ani DiFranco

Related tracks