And when I talk to you girl
Whatever am I gonna say
I already I told myself I’d
Never let it be this way
The late rays of the sun
All but gone and settling slow
The evening’s last gasp
Drips down to the courtyard far below
The flagstones flicker fade to grey
Don’t let us girl go down that way
Oh, Mrs. Johnson swore
If it was the last thing she ever did
The deadbeat on the second floor
Never get her precious angel
Where is that splendid vow today
Don’t let our deal go down that way
Hey there, mama, mama
See what your beatnik boy has done
Righteous stack of empty pages
Pocket full of crumpled ones
And all they’d ever hope to say
Don’t let us, girl, go down this way
Too many nights, too many days
For us to just go down this way
Imagination has its say
Takin' you off where it will
We thought you’d brushed that buzz away
Like a pigeon off the windowsill
Embrace the first blow of the day
So easy now to go that way
Every little fool cracks wise
And wants to know what life is this
That comes on like a day in June and then
Winds up like a week in Jersey
To settle that we’ve gone astray
We're never meant to go this way
Hey there, mommy, mommy, mommy
Look what your golden girl has done
Shoebox full of empty vessels
A pocket full of brand-new ones
And I’m standing here and still I say
Don’t let us, girl, go down that way
Got miles to go and hell to pay
It hurts like mad and yet I say
We’ll curse ourselves and rue the day
We let our thing go down this way