Sweet Sally is our attempt at a complex, emotionally mature narrative. It’s a classic folk-rock setup: one character (Harry) tries to sweep another (Sally) off her feet with highly romantic, moonlit river-adjacent clichés. The twist is that Sally shuts it down immediately, reminding Harry that she’s fine on her own and that "not romantically" is a perfectly acceptable answer. We like to think of it as a rejection song that still has a happy ending. It’s a good track to listen to when you realize your own romantic pursuit is ill-advised, or when you just want to slow dance. But only as friends, of course.

Sweet Sally (Sethares)

Sweet Sally won’t you sit by the river with me
The night is soft and hazy so carefree
Sally, you laugh like a melody
Sally, you’re everything to me
Oh the moon is beautiful tonight
Cause Sally can’t you see
that a woman like you needs a man like me
And a man like me needs a woman just like you

Harry I’ll tell you something you may find strange
My heart belongs to Mary and that ain’t gonna change
Harry, you’re fun and oh so sweet
But Harry, I can stand on my own two feet
We can sing and be friends but you need to let the rest go
Harry can’t you see, that I like you a lot but not romantically
And a woman like me don’t “need” a man at all

Let’s go to the bar I hear they got good band down there
We can dance and we can get lost in the cool night air
Now we can joke like we’re kids again
Now we can dance like good old friends
And the moon is beautiful in the sky
Cause hey there we can see,
there’s no distance between you and me
But as for love, just let it be
And as for love, we’ll just let it be
And as for love, just let it be