[Opening Hook] At night, I try to go to sleep. In the morning, I try to get up. Somewhere between those two ambitions, I appear to have a life. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (I try, I try!) [Verse 1] I negotiate with my knees like we’re settling a labor dispute. They have demands. I have places to be. Neither side is moving. I blame the motorcycle accident. Actually, I blame it often. It’s been years, but why waste a perfectly good excuse? Then Sachi starts staring at me. Breakfast is apparently overdue. According to her expression, this constitutes neglect. So I get up. Not for discipline. Not for personal growth. For the dog. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) [Pre-Chorus] Feet on the floor. Give the knees a minute. Nobody said success had to happen standing up. I try. [Female Backing Choir] (I try! I try!) [Chorus] I try, I try, that’s what I do all day. If Plan A becomes unreasonable, I find a more civilized way. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (Every day, I try!) I try, I try. I refuse to call it defeat. Sometimes independence means knowing exactly whom to ring. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) [Verse 2] I try to cook dinner. I really do. I enter the kitchen. I inspect the situation. The refrigerator offers ingredients. Uber offers dinner. This is not laziness. This is comparative analysis. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) I try to clean the house. I locate the cleaning supplies. Then I call my niece. Delegation is a management skill. I have credentials. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) [Verse 3] I decide I should walk today. Fresh air. Exercise. Nature. Excellent proposal. I find my shoes, which already feels productive. Then I call my son and say, “Come take your mother for a ride.” Technically, I left the house. My fitness app and I have agreed not to discuss it. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (At least I try!) [Chorus] I try, I try, I give everything a chance. Sometimes progress looks like walking. Sometimes progress needs a ride. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) I try, I try. There’s dignity in Plan B. And sometimes the smartest way to do it is finding who can do it for me. [Female Backing Choir] (I try! I try!) (That’s good enough for me!) [Verse 4] I try to sit and write a song, but eventually my eyes file a complaint. I blame the reading. I’m constantly reading. Songs, comments, lyrics, messages… Apparently my eyes would like different employment. Fair enough. So I dictate. Apparently technology spent billions developing artificial intelligence so I wouldn’t have to type. Finally, an appropriate use of science. And somehow all my talking turns into another song. I call that productivity. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (And another song arrives!) [Bridge] I tried to cook. Uber arrived. I tried to clean. My niece arrived. I tried to walk. My son arrived. I tried to write. A song arrived. [Female Backing Choir] (I try! I try!) (I try! I try!) At this point I’m beginning to suspect I have an excellent system. [Final Chorus] I try, I try, I’ve been trying all day long. Called Uber, called my niece, called my son, and wrote a song. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (All day long!) (I try, I try!) I try, I try, and somehow things get done. I don’t need to conquer the world today. Frankly, the world hasn’t asked. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (I try, I try!) [Outro] At night, I try to go to sleep. That’s when my brain remembers every unfinished thought since approximately 1987. Excellent timing. I turn over. Fix the pillow. Close my eyes. Tomorrow I’ll try again. [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) But not too early. Let’s be reasonable. I had a challenge with my dear friend, Kate Austin, a very talented artist. She wrote “Lousy Day.” I was supposed to write “I Try.” Kate won. She finished hers first. And me? I’m still here trying to finish “I Try.” [Female Backing Choir] (I try, I try!) (I try, I try!) I try. I try. I try. And apparently… I’m still trying. [Female Backing Choir] (I try! I try!) (I try! I try!)
