Harry Chapin Sequel Lyrics

Sequel Lyrics

So here she's actin' happy inside her handsome home
And me, I'm flyin' in my
taxi, takin' tips and gettin' stoned.
I got into town a little early.
Had
eight hours to kill before the show.
First I thought about heading up north
of the bay
Then I knew where I had to go.
I thought about taking a
limousine
Or at least a fancy car.
But I ended up taking a taxi
'Cause
that's how I got this far.
You see, ten years ago it was the front
seat
Drivin' stoned and feelin' no pain.
Now here I am straight and
sittin' in the back
Hitting Sixteen Parkside Lane.
The driveway was the
same as I remembered
And a butler came and answered the door.
He just
shook his head when I asked for her
And said "She doesn't live here
anymore."
But he offered to give me the address
That they were forwarding
her letters to.
I just took it and returned to the cabbie
And said "I got
one more fare for you."
And so we rolled back into the city
Up to a five
store old brownstone
I rang the bell that had her name on the
mailbox.
The buzzer said somebody's home.
And the look on her face as she
opened the door
Was like an old joke told by a friend.
It'd taken ten more
years but she'd found her smile
And I watched the corners start to
bend.
And she said, "How are you Harry?
Haven't we played this scene
before?"
I said "It's so good to see you, Sue
Had to play it out just
once more."
Play it out just once more.
She said I've heard you flying
high on my radio
I answered "It's not all it seems"
That's when she
laughed and she said, "It's better sometimes
When we don't get to touch our
dreams."
That's when I asked her where was that actress
She said "That
was somebody else"
And then I asked her why she looked so happy now
She
said "I finally like myself, at last I like myself."
So we talked all
through that afternoon
Talking about where we'd been
We talked of the
tiny difference
Between ending and starting to begin.
We talked because
talking tells you things
Like what you really are thinking about.
But
sometimes you can't find what you're feeling
Till all the word run
out.
So I asked her to come to the concert.
She said "No, I work at
night."
I said, "We've gotten too damn good at leaving, Sue"
She said,
"Harry, you're right."
Don't ask me if I made love to her
Or which one of
us started to cry
Don't ask me why she wouldn't take the money that I
left
If I answered at all I'd lie.
So I thought about her as I sang that
night
And how the circle keeps rolling around.
How I act as I'm facing
the footlights
And how she's flying with both feet on the ground.
I guess
it's a sequel to our story
From the journey 'tween heaven and hell
With
half the time thinking of what might have been
and half thinkin' just as
well.
I guess only time will tell.