{"id":2463,"date":"2016-09-29T02:51:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T02:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2463"},"modified":"2016-09-29T02:51:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T02:51:06","slug":"smithers-got-no-love-today-brings-back-sadness-about-my-first-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2463","title":{"rendered":"Smither’s “Got No Love Today” brings back sadness about my first love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Terry<\/a><\/p>\n

TERRY MOSHER<\/p>\n

Everybody here has gone lovesick, especially the first time as a young teen. I\u2019m sure of that. So I\u2019m not going to tell you about something unique, but I will tell you when the lightning and thunder struck, it had me in a thither and that feeling has struck with me through thick and thin.<\/p>\n

It happened when I was 15, which is about a million years ago. It turned out to be a long-distance relationship because I was on the Left Coast and she was on the Right Coast.<\/p>\n

That relationship ended with a \u201cDear John\u201d letter one day and with it my heart sank to lows that were unbelievable. She got married to the new guy and they have had a good life, but when you are a young teen it hurts more than anybody would know or care. So you sulk alone and for a long time that was me as I slowly wound my way through what I have always said where my \u201cDark Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have been listening to American Routes from Louisiana, as I always do when I write, and this son by Chris Smither, \u201cNo Love Today\u201d came pouring out and set my heart on fire to the point it raised that memory of my first major love back to the front of my mind.<\/p>\n

I had heard this song before by another group, but this one is the original and it nearly brought tears to me as I listen. So I\u2019ll give you the song\u2019s lyrics to give you a hint of what I am going through as I listen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u201cI <\/em><\/strong>don’t know much, when I knew less,
\nAnd I was heartbroke for the first time,
\nI was drowning in my tears,
\nI went looking for a lifeline,
\nTrying to find some comfort,
\nA simple tender touch,
\nSearching for some little cure
\nThat would not cost too much,
\nAnd I could hear that produce wagon on the street,
\nI could hear that farmer singing,
\nAs I cried myself to sleep<\/p>\n

I got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound,
\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo’ better than in town,
\nI got okra, enough to choke ya,
\nBeans of every kind,
\nIf hungry is what’s eatin’ you
\nI’ll sell you peace of mind,
\nBut this ain’t what you came to hear me say,
\nAnd I hate to disappoint you,
\nBut I got no love today,
\nI got no love today.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I got no love today,
\nNo love today\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, yeah, I had no love that day when I walked to our mailbox to find that letter. I did not open the letter, but I could feel the ring in that I had given her to wear, which she did around her neck.<\/p>\n

I stuck the letter in the bottom drawer of my bedroom dresser, underneath some clothes that I rarely wore. I knew it would be safe and nobody would find it. Then I took a long walk across the field, through some woods, and hid under some brush along the Nooksack River and cried myself almost to sleep. I stayed there for hours. Daylight turned into dusk before I left for the long walk back home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI could not love to save myself
\nFrom lonesome desperation.
\nEverything I thought was love
\nWas worthless imitation.
\nMy concept of commitment
\nWas to take all you could give,
\nI thought the cheapest thrills I loved
\nWere teachin’ me to live,
\nBut nothin’ seemed to last or see me through
\nNothin’ but that little song
\nThat I still sing for you.
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nI got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound,
\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo’ better than in town,
\nI got okra, enough to choke ya,
\nBeans of every kind,
\nIf hungry is what’s eatin’ you
\nI’ll sell you peace of mind,
\nBut this ain’t what you came to hear me say,
\nAnd I hate to disappoint you,
\nBut I got no love today,
\nI got no love today,
\nI got no love today,
\nNo love today\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember now how long that letter remained under my clothes and unopened. But it may have been nearly a month before I could bring myself to reach in, bring it out in the fresh air and open it. I don\u2019t know what she wrote now, but it was gentle as she could be, and she was a gentle person. But the words hit me hard and after re-reading it a second time, I ripped it to shred and threw it in the garbage.<\/p>\n

It was over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNo love today, none tomorrow,
\n<\/em><\/strong>Not now, not forever.
\nYou can’t see what comes for free,
\nI think you much too clever,
\nFor your own good I will tell you
\nWhat’s right before your eyes,
\nIntelligence is no defense
\nAgainst what this implies,
\nIn the end no one will sell you what you need,
\nYou can’t buy it off the shelf,
\nYou got to grow it from the seed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I did find love again. But only after pocking my ring and swearing I would never wear it again. And I didn\u2019t. Each morning when I rose, I would pocket that ring. I felt like she was still with me if I did that.<\/p>\n

Then one morning I awoke and discovered the ring was gone. It was probably two years into my little secret. I was devastated. I don\u2019t know how I lost it, but it was gone just like my first love, never to return.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound,
\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo’ better than in town,
\nI got okra, enough to choke ya,
\nBeans of every kind,
\nIf hungry is what’s eatin’ you
\nI’ll sell you peace of mind,
\nBut this ain’t what you came to hear me say,
\nAnd I hate to disappoint you,
\nBut I got no love today,
\nI got no love today,
\nI got no love today,
\nNo love today\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadness comes and goes. I was sad for a long time. And it just wasn\u2019t the lost of that first love, but other things in my life at the time that I have often wrote about. Life is funny that way. Some days the sun shines bright and other days it \u2018s cloudy and gray all day. You just cope the best you can and try to move forward.<\/p>\n

Be well pal.<\/p>\n

Be careful out there.<\/p>\n

Have a great day.<\/p>\n

You are loved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TERRY MOSHER Everybody here has gone lovesick, especially the first time as a young teen. I\u2019m sure of that. So…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-column","category-mosher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2464,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463\/revisions\/2464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}