Wasted Time

(album: Hotel California - 1976)

Well, baby, there you stand
With your little head down in your hand

Oh, my God, you can't believe
It's happening again
Your baby's gone,
And you're all alone
And it looks like the end.

And you're back out on the street.
And you're trying to remember.

How do you start it over?
You don't know if you can.
You don't care much
For a stranger's touch,
But you can't hold your man.

You never thought you'd be alone
This far down the line
And I know what's been on your mind
You're afraid it's all been wasted time

The autumn leaves have got you thinking
About the first time that you fell
You didn't love the boy too much, no, no,
You just loved the boy too well, well, well.

So you live from day to day,
And you dream about tomorrow

And the hours go by like minutes
And the shadows come to stay
So you take a little something
To make them go away

I could have done so many things, baby
If I could only stop my mind
From wondering what I left behind
And from worrying 'bout this wasted time

Another love has come and gone
And the years keep rushing on

I remember what you told me
Before you went out on your own,
"Sometimes to keep it together,
We got to leave it alone."

So you can get on with your search, baby,
And I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find
That it wasn't really wasted time