The Return Lyrics

In your mind there's a place

One old neighborhood

Where you learned to see

Everything around you

The one faithful dog who was

Buried in the backyard

Between white blossoming rosebushes

Your brain loops back

To the blond boy in a back alley

Hosing down aluminum chairs

Twin fountains on his sunglasses

How you loved him in the moment

Never learning his name

In your mind there's a place

One old neighborhood

Where you learned to see

Everything around you

Where you learned to see

This was a time when mothers washed

Their daughters' hair in the sink

Cats wandered between yards

And men wore soft gray hats

On Sundays

This was a place where

Families sat on small porches

Or for hours on stairs by the door

Yelling out to neighbors

Across the street

In your mind

The sidewalks are always buckled or cracked

Because of the trees

You remember

Mothers telling their daughters

Small refusals make things interesting

And dads saying to their sons they smoked to

Get used to the taste of things

In your mind there's a place

One old neighborhood

Where you learned to see

Everything around you

Where you learned to see

In the old neighborhood in your mind

Your best friend knocks on your door

Holding an orange in the sunlight

How you both walked and walked

Until the sun went down

These were days where you watched

The old drunk on the corner

And memory unkindly has you back

Before his breathy chant

Hey Hey

I love you

Again you're walking away

Trying to ignore his urine soaked coat

His smile as he offered Ritz crackers

From his pockets

You weren't the only one

Others shook their heads

No No Thank you

The flash

Sweet salt of pain

Of an outstretched hand

Going back in

In the old neighborhood in your mind

You see them again

Mothers telling their daughters

Small refusals make things interesting

And dads saying to their sons they smoked to

Get used to the taste of things

They smoked to

Get used to the taste of things

In your mind there's a place

One old neighborhood

Where you learned to see

Everything around you

Where you learned to see

Where you learned to see