I stand on 64 in the middle of the fall

Right outside the diner from Annie Hall

Or where it used to be, anyhow

P.J. Clarke's, I see, is what's there now

I dream about a time many years ago

Where I could drink at McHale's then sober up at a show

At the Hellinger, or the original Helen Hayes

Back when things were better in many ways

I walk toward Lincoln Center now

Just like I did when I was a kid

At least we still got one thing

That looks the way it did

When life was unsafe and, whoa, so hectic

And not so, oh-so-antiseptic

They tell you that it's better now

But don't you let 'em fool ya

'Cause after all

It might be safer for you to walk to school

But you'll never, ever be as cool

As Raul Julia

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

'Cause New York at the moment is a troubling place

I recognize its heart, but can't make sense of its face

There's no Hawaii Kai, but there's Applebees

And I can't identify with Applebees

I think about my life in the theater and then

I think of how much easier it must have been when

People understood courage pays off in spades

When the neighborhood was full of renegades

I'm walking up the steps now

And with each step I feel

The history and the legacy

Of when the theater and the city were real

When it was unsafe and, whoa, so hectic

And not so, oh-so-antiseptic

They tell you that it's better now

But, honey, let me school ya

'Cause after all

You think that you're just where you want to be

But you will never, ever be as free

As Raul Julia, heading to rehearsal in the fall

Hey, oh, oh, Raul Julia

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you'll never hear me ask again

It's 1976 in the middle of the fall

I'm on 64 and walkin' to the rehearsal hall

I'm Raul Julia

So heading to rehearsal's what I do

I walk up the steps, I get a little chill

As I think about the neighborhood of San Juan Hill

How they knocked it down, swept it all away

To build this town, where I'ma do my play

Change is good, but at what price?

Sometimes, I'm just not sure

I know we're better for the progress made

But I still dream of when the city was pure

When it was unsafe and, oh, so hectic

Undeveloped and eclectic

Better now, or better then?

How do you compare?

'Cause after all I see the fountain and pride fills up my chest

But will I ever feel as Wild West

As Jose Ferrer

Heading to rehearsal in the fall?

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

It wasn't all perfect, last I checked

I know that things look different in retrospect

And with every cause comes so many effects

Good Lord, nostalgia's so complex

But when Jose Ferrer (Raul Julia)

Was walking to rehearsal in the fall

It musta been the only good time to be alive in the city at all

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you'll never hear me ask again to…

I'm Jose Ferrer (Take me back to the Way Back When, 'cause I know that life was better then)

And I remember Lincoln Square (Take me back to the Way Back When and you'll never ever have to hear me ask again)

And the Vanderbilt (Take me back to the Way Back When)

And the Hippodrome ('Cause I know that life was better then)

New York is fine right now (Take me back to the Way Back When)

But back then it was home (And you'll never ever have to hear me ask again to)

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know you'll hear me ask again to

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you'll never hear me ask again to…

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you'll never ever have to hear me ask again to…

Take me back to the Way Back When

'Cause I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

New York was better then