Way It Was

(album: Young Man - 2022)

Walking past a construction sign
And in the midst of feeling fine
I recalled that things are always changing
We can't seem to let it be
We're manifest anxiety
And we work hard to keep on rearranging
As I shuffled through the old wood door
And smelled the beer from the night before
All dried and sticky just lying there on the ground
I sat down in the corner chair
Heard some stories in the air
Shared a glass of company with them people hanging 'round

There were hobos and sinners
Hillbillies, too
Bankers and lawyers in their fine business suits
There were hippies riding horses
A knife-wielding man
Long in the face
With pennies in a can

Walking down the avenue
It may not look like much to you
But I don't mind the way it's always been
It might just be a corner dive
But folks in here are living life
And one day we'll be looking back my friend
Talking 'bout the way it was back then

Up came rolling a long black car
Men with big ole cookie jars
Alligator leather on the armrest
They found my favorite bar in town
They bellied up and they tore it down
Had themselves a drink and called it progress
Built themselves a country club
For high-rise types that live above
And look down on the people far below
Blood was in the water, now
They called the neighbors, got 'em out
And told them it was just the way it goes

All those hobos and sinners
Hillbillies, too
Bankers and lawyers in their fine business suits
All those hippies riding horses
The knife-wielding man
Long in the face
With pennies in a can

Walking down the avenue
It may not look like much to you
But I don't mind the way it's always been
It might just be a corner dive
But folks in here are living life
And one day we'll be looking back my friend
Talking 'bout the way it was back then

Walking down the avenue
It may not look like much to you
But I didn't mind the way it's always been
It might have been a corner dive
But folks in there were living life
And one day we'll be looking back my friend
Talking 'bout the way it was back then
Talking 'bout the way it was back then
Talking 'bout the way it was back then
Talking 'bout the way it was back then