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  1. Erica

From the recording The One Thing You Need (2020)

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Almost every song hits like a wall of sound, from which tender subtleties emerge, and opener “Erica” sets the tone. This propulsive revisitation of one of Webster’s most beloved classics embodies his complex sensibility perfectly. It presents as an effortless pop song, catchy with the lyrical sweetness that is one of Billy’s greatest strengths (“If God wore a dress tonight, she would look like you do tonight”), but plunges to surprising depths, rounding out its joyful romanticism with the robust and sober considerations also attendant to the prospect of love (“Is it all like the eschaton, where you choose the last thing you want?”). This is a serious love song, one that addresses the paradoxes of loving and unifies them with an encompassing passion in the album’s eponymous line: “Maybe we’ll laugh till we bleed, if that’s the one thing you need.”

Written & Produced by Billy Webster
Lead Guitar by Carl Basler
Recorded at The Jersey Dream
(c) Shampoo Girl Music, 2020

Lyrics

ERICA WOULD YOU RUN FROM ME
IF YOU THOUGHT I WOULD WANT TO BE
ANY MORE THAN A FRIEND TO YOU
DOING WHAT FRIENDS WOULD NEVER DO
IS IT ALL LIKE A MOVIE SHOW
WHERE THE HERO'S THE LAST TO KNOW
WHERE AND WHEN AND HOW HARD HE'S GONNA FALL

I'M HOLDING OUT, I'M HOLDING ON
I'M HOLDING BACK 'TIL IT'S GONE
MAYBE WE'LL CRY 'TIL WE BLEED
IF THAT'S THE ONE THING YOU NEED
SILLY GIRL, IT'S YOUR NIGHT
AND IT'S YOUR WORLD
BABY IT'S ALL IN YOUR HANDS
YOU'RE SAFE TONIGHT, NO DEMANDS

ERICA YOU'RE AN ATHEIST
BUT IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THIS
THAT IF GOD WORE A DRESS TONIGHT
SHE WOULD LOOK LIKE YOU DO TONIGHT
IS IT ALL LIKE THE ESCHATON
WHERE YOU CHOOSE THE LAST THING YOU WANT
AND YOUR BOTTLE IS STILL SPINNING AROUND

I'M TURNING OUT, I'M TURNING ON
I'M TURNING BACK 'TIL IT'S GONE
BABY I'LL SING YOU TO SLEEP
IF THAT'S THE ONE THING YOU NEED
RIGHT OR WRONG
I HAVE KNOWN YOU SO LONG
HOW MANY LIVES DID WE LEAD AND
HOW COULD YOU TELL THAT IT WAS ME

I WAS UNAWARE 'TIL THEN THAT
SOMEONE ELSE WOULD DARE TO BEND
BEYOND THE POINT WHERE
PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE

ERICA YOU ARE FURIOUS
'CAUSE YOUR WORLD IS SO SERIOUS
BUT I'LL BE JUST THE CLOWN FOR YOU
MAKING NO SENSE AN HOUR FOR YOU
'CAUSE YOU MOVE LIKE A HURRICANE
AND I'M CAUGHT IN THE EYE AGAIN
AND YOU TALK TO YOURSELf WHEN NO ONE'S AROUND

I'M MOVING OUT, I'M MOVING ON
I'M MOVING BACK 'TIL IT'S GONE
MAYBE WE'LL LAUGH 'TIL WE BLEED
IF THAT'S THE ONE THING YOU NEED
YOU'LL BE FINE
GET ME DRUNK, I DON'T MIND
BABY YOU SHINE LIKE A STAR
AND THAT'S THE ONE THING YOU ARE