Story Behind The Song
In the time I've spent in the US, diners have been one of my favourite iconic American things and I wanted to write a song with a diner in centre place. The song has been through several major changes since I wrote the lyrics back in the 1990s, and switching to an open tuning changed it from a rather predictable waltz tune to the more complex song it is now.
Song Description
This diner has been the singer's favourite place to eat for years and it's where she got to know, and then split up with, her ex-lover. They would always sit at a particular table for two there. Now that they are no longer together, the singer still comes to this place, but always sits up at the counter now amongst other single people, because the memories are less painful there and because she no longer has need for a table for two.
| Song Length |
3:54 |
Genre |
Country - Contemporary, Country - Alternative |
| Tempo |
Medium (111 - 130) |
Lead Vocal |
Female Vocal |
| Mood |
Poignant, Heartbreaking |
Subject |
Restaurants, Breaking Up |
| Similar Artists |
Alison Krauss, James Taylor |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1990 - 1999 |
| |
Lyrics
Table for Two
I'm sitting alone at the counter again,
Behind me's a table for two;
What use have I for that second chair now,
Now that I haven't got you?
Now that I haven't got you?
This was the diner we came to that night,
After I first danced with you;
This was the place where we first really talked,
It was there at that table for two.
This is the diner I've come to for years,
Now it only holds memories of you,
And that night and the fight that reduced me to tears,
There at that table for two.
It was there at that table for two.
So now I'm sitting alone at the counter again,
Behind me's a table for two;
What use have I for that second chair now,
Now that I haven't got you?
Now that I haven't got you?
There's a stool where I now always sit on my own,
And all those around me, they're also alone;
At the counter I tend to think less about you
Than I would if I sat at that table for two.
Still I come back to this diner most days--
They serve the best heartache in town;
And with it they give you unlimited tears
To wash the bad memories down;
They'll wash those bad memories down.
So I'm sitting alone at the counter again,
Behind me's a table for two;
What use have I for that second chair now,
Now that I haven't got you?
Now that I haven't got you?
Oh, what use have I for that second chair now,
Now that I haven't got you?
© Mandy Woods