Years Long Ago

The Long Ryders

Compositor: Tom Stevens

If we return to the places we lived in before
We turn from all that we've gained
If we lived out a life that we struggled to change
Just to turn back the calendar page
Then we'd see that our memory betrayed us
We'd see what had frightened us so
We'd hear all the voices that fall silent now
Pieces of years long ago

Some people say if you live in the past
It'll make sight much clearer today
The turning and turning of gears in their heads
Screaking from rust and decay
Then tomorrow is just incidental, awful, deliberate and slow
Turning alone like a clock on a shelf
Backward to years long ago

I cannot live in the past anymore
Don't need to understand why
The smile on your face blows the vacuum away
Gone with the wink of your high
Can we rearrange furniture sleeping
Grab hold and never let go
Buy some news shoes and walk you and me
Away from the years long ago