{new_song} {title: A Talk With the Middle-Sized Bear} {key: C} {capo: 2} {comment_italic: \copyright Stephen Savitzky. \SomeRightsReserved} {lyricist: Stephen Savitzky} {composer: Stephen Savitzky} {time: 3:30} {start_of_verse} You've h[C]ad a rough j[F]ourney; [C]a hellish long d[Am]ay; There's a f[C]ire in your throat and an ache in your h[G]ead And you l[C]ong to be b[F]ack in your [C]own cozy b[Am]ed. But the w[Dm]orld you grew up in has vanished aw[G]ay. You're w[C]eary and sick and you're fr[Am]ightened by change When som[C*]ething wraps 'round you l[C]ike a sw[F]irl [C]of warm a[G6]ir For there's n[C*]o place as comforting, g[F]entle, or str[Am]ange As the m[F]ind of the [G6]Mid[Csus2]dle-S[G]ized [C]Bear. {end_of_verse} {start_of_chorus} For the M[C]iddle-Sized Bear is a creature most r[Am]are He'll f[C]eed you on honey and tea in his l[G]air And you d[C]on't think you trust him, but m[F]aybe you'll dare Have a t[G]alk with the Midd[F]le-S[G]ized B[C]ear. {end_of_chorus} {start_of_verse} He's cl[C]umsy, forg[F]etful, [C]ill-tempered, and [Am]shy; There's d[C]ust on his spectacles, gray in his f[G]ur; S[C]ometimes he gr[F]owls when you th[C]ink that he'd [Am]purr, But he h[Dm]olds you so gently and just lets you c[G]ry. He s[C]ays he's not clever, but s[Am]ometimes he's wise, Somet[C*]imes he's so silent y[C]ou c[F]an't t[C]ell he's th[G6]ere And he qu[C*]ietly kisses the t[F]ears from your [Am]eyes As you s[F]it with the [G6]Mid[Csus]dle-S[G]ized [C]Bear. {end_of_verse} {start_of_chorus} For the M[C]iddle-Sized Bear is a creature most r[Am]are He'll s[C]ing you a song as he brushes your h[G]air And they s[C]ay it's a comfort just kn[F]owing he's there As you t[G]alk with the Midd[F]le-S[G]ized B[C]ear. {end_of_chorus} {start_of_verse} {new_page} There's a l[C]ine in his j[F]ournal th[C]at pierces your m[Am]ask Though he s[C]ays at the time that he's probably wr[G]ong; But he [C]sums up your [F]fears in a [C]few lines of [Am]song, And [Dm]answers a question you never would [G]ask. A l[C]etter, a message, a v[Am]oice on the phone, A sc[C*]rap of a song com[C]ing [F]out [C]of thin [G6]air. Perh[C*]aps it's enough to know y[F]ou're not al[Am]one As you t[F]alk with the [G6]Mid[Csus2]dle-S[G]ized [G]Bear. {end_of_verse} {start_of_chorus} For the M[C]iddle-Sized Bear is a creature most r[Am]are He kn[C]ows you don't love him, but he doesn't c[G]are And you th[C]ink you could trust him, if [F]only you'd dare Have a t[G]alk with the Midd[F]le-S[G]ized B[C]ear. {end_of_chorus} The Middle-Sized Bear is a character out of science fiction: the section ``Conversation With the Middle-Sized Bear'' in Cordwainer Smith's novella, Mark Elf. For several years I've used it to refer to the aspect of my personality that is, so people have told me, comforting to talk to and be around. This song is very much a composite; the first verse is almost entirely out of Cordwainer Smith; the last two are more about the women in my life who have encountered the Middle-Sized Bear over the last year. It's a little unusual in being largely autobiographical but in the second and third person, so that it's singable by anyone. {meta: website http://Steve.Savitzky.net/Songs/ms-bear/lyrics}