From the recording Apricot Moon
Phil Gross and Bill Hermann wrote a number of really good songs together nearly half a century ago. But a couple of years back, Phil asked me if I could redo one that he was never quite satisfied with. I wound up only keeping the basic chord structure and just a couple of specific musical and lyrical phrases, but Phil said he liked it, and I don't think Bill has heard it yet.
Lyrics
I found her picture in a cardboard box
With some letters and old photographs of friends
Like a dream in beads and feathers
That were shimmering like diamonds in the wind
The moon was bright; a perfect light
Was shining down on her face
But moonlights dim; planets spin
And dreams fly off into space
Pretty words and pretty pictures
Things we save that no one needs
Seems the diamonds in my dreams
Were just bright lights and beads
Well I remember summer mornings
Summer nights we thought would never end
I remember every whisper
Every promise that was written on her skin
But seasons change; we rearrange
Each life around each day
Bills get paid; plans get made
And summers fade away
Pretty words and pretty pictures
Things we save that no one needs
Seems the diamonds in my dreams
Were just bright lights and beads
I guess there’s no way in advance
That we can know if a romance will turn to love
But the things we keep as tokens
For the things we’ve lost and broken aren’t enough
Just pretty words and pretty pictures
Things we save that no one needs
Seems the diamonds in my dreams
Were just bright lights and beads
The diamonds in my dreams
Were just bright lights and beads