I remember yesterday
When I'd sit and watch the hound dogs play
Howlin' at the China moon
Now yesterday is a busted balloon
Life was young and things were easy
Days were short, nights were warm
Times were good
Hate was shallow
Love was crazy and I had it in my marrow
And I swear that I've seen your face
Somewhere back in that time and in that place
Do you remember?
The old house stood like World War II
With just two rooms and a hall to be used
The lady was mean, just slightly unclean
With a heart of cold silver and gold
The kitchen smelled of kerosene
Ceiling hung down, unveiled the rotted beams
And the man, they said, his work could of hung in the Louvre
Now he sits around all day because his left arm won't move
He was a master of the art of electricity
He lectured on tubes and circuitry
He was self-employed, but he could never see his way into the light
He had a room full of switches and dials and lights
And a head full of clouds, and eyes full of sight
And when it got dark I could hear his heart beat
Like a mother in the night
She stood like a guardian, ready to give everything up
If I had asked for a sword and her blood in a cup
But there was just a time when I asked for too much
She sighed because she could not give it
We used to sit beneath the tree
Just the lady, the radio man, and me
And I think it was the winter of '63
The man went away and let us be
It was early on an August day that the lady decided she too must go away
For her heart it seems could not pay the price for what her body was buying
I came home from school and I found the note
I went into the kitchen and lit the old stove
With senses set on overload, I turned on the TV
I spent the rest of the afternoon
Watching all my old cartoons
Through the hall and across the porch
The sun surrendered like a crying torch.