The Fairest of the Seasons

Lyrics by Jackson Browne, one of Nico’s many boyfriends. He was just an unknown then, ten years her junior and still a teenager. She really knew how to pick ‘em. And they repaid her in songs. If she’d been willing to carry on making pretty folky records singing the love songs a parade of the best of the best were ready to provide her with, she’d have had a shot at some pretty decent success. But of course it was in Nico’s nature to be principally opposed to the constrictions of the mainstream. Chelsea Girl was her most appealing, potentially sellable record, and she despised it. She was a difficult person, by all accounts. That could explain why none of her many boyfriends stuck around for very long. Though John Cale carries a torch for her to this day.

now that its time
now that the hour hand has landed at the end
now that its real
now that the dreams have given all they had to lend
i want to know
do i stay or do i go
and maybe try another time
and do i really have a hand in my forgetting?

now that i’ve tried
now that i’ve finally found that this is not the way
now that i’ve turned
now that i feel its time to spend the night away
i want to know
do i stay or do i go
and maybe finally split the rhyme
and do i really understand the undernetting?

yes, and the morning has me
looking in your eyes
and seeing mine warning me
to read the signs carefully

now that it’s light
now that candle’s falling smaller in my mind
now that its here
now that i’m almost not so very far behind
i want to know
do i stay or do i go
and maybe follow another sign
and do i really have a song that i can ride on?

now that i can
now that its easy, ever easy all around
now that i’m here
now that i’m falling to the sunlights and a song
i want to know
do i stay or do i go
and do i have to do just one
and can i choose again if i should lose the reason?

yes, and the morning has me
looking in your eyes
and seeing mine warning me
to read the signs more carefully

now that i smile
now that i’m laughing even deeper inside
now that i see
now that i finally found the one thing i denied
its now i know
do i stay or do i go
and it is finally i decide
that i’ll be leaving
in the fairest of the seasons