You've Let Yourself Go

(album: Liza With A "Z" - 1972)

I guess just about the hardest thing to do
When you're doing something like this
Is to find a new love song to sing
Because they're almost always about one of three things
Right, they're either the, ah, the guy meets the girl
Or the guy loses the girl or the guy gets the girl
Well, I found this song and it isn't about any of those three things
This song is about two people
Who have already known each other for quite a while

So we're alone again tonight
I read a book, you watch the fight
A stifled yawn, a can of beer
What an enthralling atmosphere
And yet the sight of us this way
Helps me to say what I must say
It helps me to think of thought or two
To pass it right along to you
And just for starters you should know, I think
You've let yourself go

Down through the years, each sage repeats
Grass never grows on busy streets
Which might explain that balding spot
Were you a thinker, which you're not
And where's that slender youth I knew?
I fear he's grown an inch or two
Not up and down my joy and pride
But more precisely side to side

When at a party, now and then
You tell the same old jokes again
Or wear a lampshade for a hat
Who could be wittier than that?
With one too many you just might
Pick some unnecessary fight
Though in the morning with the sun
You can't remember what you've done
If there's regret, it doesn't show
You know, you've let yourself go

You never care the way you dress
You stay unshaven, you look a mess
The smallest thing is too much to do
I even hold the door for you
And every rose upon the shelf
Is one that I've supplied myself
It's not the same, I'm well aware
Yet I need to see them there

I don't know why I say it now
Why I don't hold my tongue somehow
But of this, I need to tell it all
No matter where the chips may fall
For as I sit and reminisce
There are so many things I miss
The reassurance of your touch
The gentle smile that said so much
You were my tender, thoughtful beau

I couldn't hate you if I tried
And I still want you by my side
We oughta lay things on the line
Perhaps the fault is really mine
And if it is, please tell me so
A seed replanted still can grow
Maybe that's all we need to know
Come close to me and let yourself go