1999

And I saw you unwind Your sleeve caught on a wire Your naked and true Dancing alone in the shadows Of the emptiest house On the emptiest street Those hours we burned Like old news on the mantel What a merry-go-round Ride back to ninety-nine We used to be friends Slinking down to the bottom Of old bed-stone walls Held on all summer long You'd tied a rope to me then said "You have to let me go" "You have to let me go" "You have to let me go" "You have to let me go" We used to be friends, circa '99 All the years you spent Slipping into shadow From an old dream you wake One frozen summer day You'd tied a rope to me then said "You have to go away" "You have to go away" "You have to go away" "You have to go away" I guess all I mean to say Is I know I haven't been The friend I was back then But all this time rots out the brain Empties it, refills it up Until the ones you'd love You'd never recognize If not for a familiar face A fleeting glance to send You back against the odds Of having lost every trace Of who we were before the earth Had spun around the sun Two thousand times Like it wouldn't once more