If this is a ghetto

I’m in it with you

If it’s just a prison

I’m locked in it too

I tried to leave you

but after all that you had said

I went to pieces

when I should have shouted and screamed

instead

So sorry, I said

Your powers of persuasion

those quizzical eyes

have tired and tied me

with innocent guile

I meant to walk out

after all the tears we’d shed

I should have stalked out

gone and painted the town bright red

but instead

So sorry, I said

How tough it gets

Don’t talk to me about it!

To pay off your debts, I worked on overtime

and you say you’ve never believed in luck

If you need a reason

consider me mad

An old retainer

loyal and sad

I bought my freedom

after all that we have shared

I couldn’t leave you

Think of the skins I’d have to shed

instead

So sorry, I said

1988. Written from the point of view of a woman in a relationship that has become habitual rather than loving; now she wryly considers her acquiescence. Liza Minnelli sang it on the album we produced for her.