Lie Down Sally

ne of the only times I am not in agreement that Eric Clapton is superior in his musical efforts than am I falls to my obligatory issue of grammar over artistic expression. When I compose a lyric, the language must be exact; more exacting, in fact, than the musical structure. That the reader has never heard any of my pieces while nearly everyone has familiarity with the work of Mr. Clapton obviously shows I am in the minority with this concern – but that is another issue.


oday, I am looking at another grammatical usage puzzle that has gotten the better of me too many times. The doubt and uncertainty associated with this has been humbling. The question is simply this:

When is it appropriate to use “lay” and when to use “lie”?

In addition to “getting happy” with comma usage, this one gets irritating for me in a hurry. Yes. I really do need a life as this matter inflames my passions . . . but, I digress. At least this one time I am able to smugly “instruct” one of the greatest guitar virtuosos of all time.


e are excluding the definition of telling an untruth from our concern. The use of “lie” will simply be in relation to placement of an object, such as a guitar, upon a table. The easy application will be addressed first. The fundamental consideration is that the word, “lay” requires a direct object – To lay the guitar on the table. The word, “lie” does not require a direct object – To lie on the bed. When framed in the present tense, what needs to be kept in mind is what action is occurring – what is being done, NOW. So, the doctor is standing before you this very moment and he instructs you to lie down on the examination table. Concurrently, you notice he is going to lay down your chart on the table. As it so happens, this plays nicely into my misanthropic view of humanity and allows us to remember proper application by a simple thought: People lie / objects lay.

Again, “I lay the guitar on the bed as I lie down to get comfortable.”

For those that have noticed the world is a messy place because of people (present company excluded, of course) all simplicity goes out the window when one considers “lay” as the past tense of “lie.” Not being one to let sleeping dogs lie I shall endeavor to lay hold of the difficulty.

       Present Tense: lie       Past Tense: lay       Past Participle: lain

Let’s “lay it down”, now . . .

Past Tense: “Eric lay down to nap on the recording studio sofa during the exhausting session.”

Past Participle: “I have lain around for days and this is the only effort I have to show.”


       Present Tense: lay       Past Tense: laid       Past Participle: laid

And a one, and a two, and a three . . .

Past Tense: “When Eric Clapton laid down the tracks for ‘Layla’ it was to cover the lie of the depth of his relationship with Patty Harrison.”

Past Participle: “He has laid that demo tape on the PR man’s desk.”


here. I have laid it on the line. You will not be able to lay any charges at my feet. Had I lain about, avoiding my responsibility only then would you have cause to lie awake.

Three Bolts, Two Clamps, and One Hose

hree bolts, two clamps, and one hose were all that prevented me from simply getting in my car and heading in any direction to any location I wished. How much does one need to prepare and concern oneself with such trivial things? Much more often and with greater care, it would seem. Most of the events of our lives are dependent upon items so common that they seldom catch our notice until they oppose our desires. Then the simple element with a simple function complicates the course of our day, consumes our hours, squanders our minutes; frustrates our plans. The details overlooked seed the clouds of circumstances that overwhelm. The smallest thing demands its due recognition. There are no skipped steps and no details so insignificant that may be neglected.

t is the same with writing. All of the rules of style and format and spelling and grammar and punctuation are only the foundation. If one is to write a truly human work there can not be the luxury of skimming over the little things. One hose failed and confined me to a two day sentence of imprisonment. Not only did I have to contend with the failed component but also the failed maintenance schedule, budget, preparation, grocery shopping, and attention to the little details of cause and effect. Then there was the assessment of the ways and means to navigate a problem that had been the result of another human being’s imagination. Every method that could resolve the failure had to satisfy the conditions inherited by me from the design and assembly of some unknown hand.

here is always trial and error, and despite the naturally great distaste for failure, it must be given its due. There is a part of me that recognizes – that actually knows and has admitted – that I do not learn much at all from success. My tuition has been in the failing. I need to remind myself of these things as I write. I need to make certain in my stories that I plan for failure more than the characters realize success. All of those elements of anticipation mingled with denied gratification are necessary to bring that delicious tension to the work which draws in the reader. Like the necessary uncertainty that comes as a stringed instrument is strained and tuned to pitch as to whether it will break or hold, I need to slowly give the work that one, last, critical twist. I think I am going to strive to bait the reader with the false belief held by the whole human race that mankind is fundamentally good and that good always prevails. Then I shall let the details rip that fallacy to shreds. The truth I would like to confront my audience with is that mankind is basically flawed and all good comes from concerted strain and effort against the natural order of chaos.

ven after I had bled and bruised myself from the strain and contortions that I had no choice but to go through in order to replace that hose there was no assurance I had been successful. Sometimes, doubt, is a powerful motivator. Was the replacement secretly flawed? Had another of those little details escaped my view and was it possible I had damaged the very thing I had endeavored to mend? Were those clamps positioned to maximize their effectiveness in securing that hose to its couplings? Did I tighten those three bolts in any combination of too loose or too tight – anything other than correctly? Was it all for show or was it good to go?

hat uncertainty is the very thing I want my readers to feel when they risk driving off in the work of my hands and the vehicle of my imagination.