In 1984 I began writings songs again for a while, and wrote some things I was rather pleased with, but only this one ever got fully finished. It exists only in manuscript form and has only ever been heard by me and my family, but is undoubtedly the best I ever wrote.

This is a page from When Lydia Left the Ball, a toungue-in-cheek ballad about a girl who deserts her debutante ball, based on a story I heard on National Public Radio's All Things Considered one afternoon. It struck me as amusing that the happening was considered nationally newsworthy.

The song is quite long by pop song standards, consisting of an introduction, three verses of an unprecedented forty measures each, the second and third separated by a longish instrumental break (partially shown), and ending with another extended break.

The style of the song is something I believe Elton John would be well suited for, if he did other people's material. Like most of my songs, it requires a vocal range of over two octaves.