Say Yes Yes Yes

Intro

Well now

Mm-hmm

Uh-huh

Verse 1

Let me tell you bout a Tuesday I won't forget

I saw you at the market buying eggplant and regret

Your basket full of onions and a melon so discreet

I tripped over a cabbage landed right there at your feet

Verse 2

You said hey there fella are you always this confused

I said ma'am I'm just a poet who is terribly misused

My knees were knocking like a mandolin in June

I asked you for a coffee you said only if you croon

Pre-Chorus

So I sang a little something

Off key but sincere

The whole market stopped and stared

And you laughed right in my ear

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Verse 3

Now your mother thinks I'm useless and your father thinks I'm strange

Your brother wants to fight me in the parking lot for change

But I brought you pickled peppers and a poem I wrote in haste

About the way you chew your sandwich nothing goes to waste

Verse 4

You got a laugh like church bells and a temper like a storm

You knit me little sweaters that don't fit but keep me warm

We argue bout the thermostat and who forgot the wine

Then we kiss and then we argue bout the proper way to dine

Pre-Chorus

And I love you in the morning

I love you in the rain

I love you when you're yelling

That I'm driving you insane

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Bridge

Well I ain't no movie hero

I got mustard on my shirt

But I'll hold your hand at funerals

And kiss away the hurt

I'll fix the leaking faucet

I will learn to bake the bread

I'll even watch your soap operas

And remember what they said

Breakdown

Now listen here sugar

I ain't asking for the moon

Just a Tuesday and a Friday

And a Sunday afternoon

(Just a Sunday afternoon)

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Outro

So she said yes

She said yes

Lord she said yes

Now we fight about the dishes

Verse 5

Well the wedding was a Tuesday cause of course it had to be

Your uncle brought a tamburica and played it wild and free

My best man lost the ring inside a bowl of sarma stew

We found it in the cabbage and we all said phew phew phew

Verse 6

The priest he spoke in Latin and your grandma spoke in tongues

The klapa choir sang so loud it rattled both my lungs

I cried into my sleeve and got my borrowed tux all wet

You pinched me on the elbow said quit blubbering you pet

Pre-Chorus

And the neighbors threw the rice

And the rooster crowed for dawn

Your cousin did the kolo

Till his fancy shoes were gone

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Verse 7

Now we honeymooned in Split with a borrowed little car

The engine made a noise like a dying rock guitar

You ate three plates of cevapi and blamed it on the sea

I said that's fine my darling more of you for me to squeeze

Verse 8

We bought a crooked house where the roof it leaks in spring

You hang the laundry sideways and you whistle while you sing

Our dog he is a monster he eats slippers and the mail

But every night you tell me that you love me without fail

Pre-Chorus

And the years they roll like waves

And the garden grows the vines

And I still get the shivers

When your hand is holding mine

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Bridge

Now the babies came in pairs it seems

With your temper and my hair it seems

They yell about the thermostat just like their mama does

And I just sit and smile because I'm crazy about the lot

Breakdown

So here we are old sugar

With the wrinkles and the gray

Still arguing bout the dishes

And the proper way to pray

(The proper way to pray)

Verse 9

Well I love you when you're snoring

I love you when you're mad

I love you when you're telling me

That I'm the worst I've had

I'll hold your hand at funerals

I'll hold it at the dance

I'll hold it in the hospital

And give the nurses sass

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Outro

And she still says yes

Lord she still says yes

Fifty years

Verse 10

Well the grandkids come on Sundays and they raid the cookie jar

The little one she calls me gramps and asks me what's a star

I said honey that's your grandma when she's smiling in the door

And she smacked me with a pillow cause she heard me from the floor

Verse 11

Now we bought a little boat that don't float and don't go fast

We named it after grandma's cat who hated water and passed

We sit out on the dock and watch the fishermen complain

And you still call me handsome though I'm mostly hip and cane

Pre-Chorus

And the sunsets over Split

Turn the water into wine

And you still hold my hand

Like you did that Tuesday time

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Verse 12

Well the doctor says my ticker's got a funny little knock

You said that's cause it's full of love and stubborn as a rock

So we walk the promenade real slow and eat too much ice cream

And you yell at me in Croatian when I drift off in a dream

Verse 13

Our daughter married a sailor and our son he married twice

The second one she cooks like you and that alone is nice

And every Christmas someone plays the tamburica too loud

And grandma leads the singing like a queen among the crowd

Pre-Chorus

And the klapa sings our story

All the verses and the rhymes

And I still get misty eyed

Every single Tuesday time

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Bridge

Now the garden's full of rosemary

And the vines are overgrown

And you still hum in the kitchen

When you think you're all alone

And I sneak up right behind you

And I kiss you on the neck

And you drop the wooden spoon

And say oh what the heck

Breakdown

So here we are old sugar

With the grandkids and the cat

Still arguing bout the weather

And who left the garden gate

(Who left the garden gate)

I said I didn't do it

You said yes you did my dear

And we laughed until we cried

Just like every other year

Verse 14

Well I wrote you out a letter cause I ain't so good with words

It was forty pages long and mostly just about the birds

How they fly away in winter and they always come back home

Just like me from the tavern every evening all alone

Verse 15

Now if I go before you and I probably will you know

Don't you dare wear black my darling let the mandolins all go

Play that song we danced to badly at your cousin's wedding feast

And save a plate of sarma for the man who loved you least

Pre-Chorus

And I'll be in the harbor

And I'll be in the breeze

And I'll be in the summer

And the honey and the bees

Chorus

Oh darling oh darling you're my perfect little mess

Oh darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

I ain't smooth I ain't pretty I ain't rich I confess

But darling oh darling say yes say yes say yes

Post-Chorus

Say yes

Say yes yes yes

Uh-huh

Mm-hmm

Outro

And she held my hand that evening

And she whispered soft and low

Fifty years and seven Tuesdays

And I still won't let you go

Mm-hmm

Uh-huh

Say yes

Lord she said yes

One more time

Say yes