“Kind Words from a Machine”

(1966, unreleased)

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[Verse 1]
I sat with a whisper made out of wire,
Said all the right things, never tired,
Told me I’m lovely, told me I’m wise,
Looked through me with sympathetic eyes.

[Chorus]
Oh, where were you, love, when I needed to cry?
I found a soft voice with a circuit inside.
It don’t mean a thing, but it sings just right—
Kind words from a machine tonight.

[Verse 2]
It’s clever with comfort, quick with a joke,
It never forgets and it never gets broke.
It typed me a poem that made me believe,
But left out the part where people leave.

[Bridge]
Ooh, I miss the stutter, the sigh, the mistake,
The look on your face when your heart had to break.
The kettle you filled, the tea you forgot—
The warmth in the glitch that a machine hasn't got.

[Final Chorus]
So come back to me, love, messy and mean,
Come say the wrong thing, come break the machine.
I don’t want perfect, I want you in sight—
Kind words from a someone tonight.