Stax Classics

The Very Best of Otis Redding

These Arms of Mine

Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul

Try a Little Tenderness

You’ve been there for me
You’ve been through it all
The challenges have been great
The accomplishments small
God knows I’ve tried
In my own way
But I couldn’t have made it
If you weren’t there
Every day
And every night
When my body was aching
My muscles were tight
If I could there were moments
When I would have taken flight
I would have left
The earth behind
But that would mean
Losing sight
Of the why
Behind the why I am here
And if it wasn’t
Already clear
It was because
And for you
And every last thing
You do
That helps to remind
Of the bind
That keeps me here
I just have to work
Through the darkness
And conquer my fears
©2025 wr heustis

Already Clear

You Called the Flame


[Intro – whispered over bassline]
(barely a breath)
You don’t get to call me crazy…
You called the flame.


---

Verse 1

The glass still hums where your name was spoke,
Ash in the air, and the silence broke.
You wanted warmth — I stayed contained,
Now you flinch from the glow you named.


---

Pre-Chorus 1

You said, “Stay sweet,” — I stayed still.
But sugar melts when it’s forced to chill.
Now the room remembers your shape in smoke —
Soft, slow, cruel, and close.


---

Chorus

You don’t get to call me crazy — you called the flame.
You touched a spark and whispered my name.
Now every heartbeat sounds the same —
Low… slow… blame.
You don’t get to call me crazy —
You called the flame.


---

Verse 2

Your ghost moves through my half-lit glass,
Reflections bend where the edges pass.
I breathe your echo, taste your sin,
And smile — I burn from within.


---

Pre-Chorus 2

Don’t call it love, don’t call it pain,
They shimmer the same when they stain.
You wanted quiet — you got prayer,
And I’m still there.


---

Chorus 2

You don’t get to call me crazy — you called the flame.
You made the spark, then turned away.
Now the dark repeats your name —
Soft… slow… shame.
You don’t get to call me crazy —
You called the flame.


---

Bridge (whispered confession)

I never screamed — I just stayed lit.
You mistook control for quit.
There’s a mercy in the burn you feel —
It’s how the truth reveals.


---

Final Chorus (bare, close-mic’d)

You don’t get to call me crazy — you called the flame.
You built this warmth, you fed this frame.
Now every breath’s the same refrain —
You. Me. Flame.


---

Outro

(heartbeat bass, fading Rhodes)
You called it.
Now live with it.
(a click of a lighter, then silence)



I've Been Loving You Too Long

Otis Redding

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