Silver Harps and Violins

They called you a dreamer when you were seventeen.
The years went by so fast. Now they call you other things.
All of the answers that you’re dreaming of —
They say that it’s natural, but a grown man learns how to give them up.
You had an apartment and a woman once.
You paid the electric and the gas and water every month.
She said that she loved you and she wore your clothes.
Now she’s in Dallas with a stand-up guy and a four-year-old.
There’s a world out there — I know there is —
Where they’ll play my songs on their silver harps and their violins
If you remember one thing, remember this:
When the lights came up, there was nothing left I could give.
All of your cousins and your relatives —
They’re competent husbands, faithful model citizens.
You saw them at Christmas when they laughed and sang.
You’re so very different. Why the hell can’t you just feel the same?
There’s a world out there — I know there is —
Where they’ll play my songs on their silver harps and their violins
If you remember one thing, remember this:
When the lights came up, there was nothing left I could give.
Sometimes a vision lights up your mind.
It’s all you were given, like fragile fruit on a fragile vine.
There’s a world out there — I know there is —
Where they’ll play my songs on their silver harps and their violins
If you remember one thing, remember this —
When the lights came up, there was nothing left I could give.