Small Talk from Obscuraphobia by Calvin Pineda

This is a song for the doctor who gave me my most recent physical evaluation
Who, when I asked him how his day was, he didn't give me any bullshit
He said honestly things have been kinda rough lately
And today in particularly has been pretty miserable
So we didn't talk a whole lot after that
But he seemed like a nice guy and I hope he'd doing better
And anyway I thought that was kinda neat
not that he was having a bad day, but that he was willing to share it with me
Cuz when I asked him how his day was, he really told me how his day was

This is a song for my friend who when she got into my car recently told me she had broken up with her boyfriend
She didn't really give any specifics
And she didn't have to because we just sat there listening to the radio
It wasn't a carefully curated playlist or anything it was just the sound of music that exists between two people who are just trying to continue to exist themselves
And when I asked her how her day was, she really told me how her day was

When I ask you how you're doing
It's because I really want to know, you dipshit
I just wanna make your day better if I can
And If I can't, that's ok too
I just want you to know I'm earnestly thinking about you

This is a song for the waitress I had at the Mexican restaurant on State Street a couple of days ago
Who when I asked her how her day was, she responded immediately and in broken English
That she had recently burned herself on the machine making tortilla chips
Not my tortilla chips just to be clear
Which was good because then I didn't have to feel guilty
But we talked a little bit and she's got a kind who's going to college
And she's really excited for her kid who's going to college
And now I'm excited for her kid who's going to college
Even though I know that college is a scam and all that stuff
But like
I had asked her how her day was
And she told me how her day was
And I think it's really neat that this is one of the things we do as human beings
Is that we share these kinds of things with each other
Particularly when it's to strangers
Actually now that I'm thinking about it, it makes sense cuz we'll never have to see them again
Um but
When I ask you how your day was
I wanna know, really know how your day was

• Bard College
• Boise Idaho
• Folk
• anti-folk
• keyboard
• lo-fi
• singer-songwriter
• small talk
• strangers
• Boise