Modern Times

Hello old friend, what a strange coincidence to find you It's been fifteen years since we last met, but I still recognised you So call the barman over here, and let us fill our glasses And drink a toast to olden times where all our memories lie Where all our memories lie Do you remember the time we were young? Lowly, lowly, low Outside the window the frosty moonlight hung On the midnight snow So we pulled our scarves around our faces in the night Huddled on the doorsteps where the fairylights shone bright Singing Christmas carols while our breath hung in the light It all comes back like yesterday It almost seems like yesterday Do you remember the changes as we grew? Slowly, slowly, slow Sneaking in the back way into movies after school For the evening show Chasing skinny blue jean girls across the building-site Checking out the dance floor while the band played "Hold Me Tight" See the blonde one over there: I bet she'd be alright It all comes back like yesterday It almost seems like yesterday While I talked he sat and he never made a sound Staring at the glass beside me Hey old friend, tell me what's on your mind? Silence grows on you like ivy Ivy Do you remember the church across the sands? Holy, holy, ho You stood outside and planned to travel the lands Where the pilgrims go So you packed your world up inside a canvas sack Set off down the highway with your rings and Kerouac Someone said they saw you in Nepal a long time back Tell me why you look away Don't you have a word to say? He said, "I don't remember ... I Don't want to remember In fact I've heard too much already I don't want to think, just leave me here to drink Wrapped up in the warmth of New York City Oh, oh, it seems you just don't know And you just don't understand me I've got no use for the tricks of modern times They tangle all my thoughts like ivy Ivy" So I left him, and I went out to the street Lowly, lowly, low Where the red light girls were coming after me Forty dollar show All across the city's heart the lights were coming on The hotel lift softly hummed a Cole Porter song If I went to look for him I knew he would be gone A picture-card of yesterday A photograph of yesterday And far off in a deserted part of town The shadows like a silent army Flooded out the rooms in pools of blue and brown And stuck to all the walls like ivy Ivy Ivy