Nostalgia Why don't relationships last as long as we'd like? Is a successful life one in which satisfaction outweighs disappointment? Why do we so often.

Nostalgia

Why don't relationships last as long as we'd like?

Is a successful life one in which satisfaction outweighs disappointment?

Why do we so often regard the past as “the good times”?

It was raining hard in 'Frisco,I needed one more fare to make my night.A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,She got in at the light.Oh, where you going to, my lady blue,It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.She just looked out the window, and said"Sixteen Parkside Lane.”Something about her was familiarI could swear I'd seen her face before,But she said, "I'm sure you're mistaken,"And she didn't say anything more.It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,And she glanced at the license for my name.A smile seemed to come to her slowly,It was a sad smile, just the same.And she said, "How are you Harry?"I said, "How are you Sue?Through the too many milesand the too little smilesI still remember you."

It was somewhere in a fairy tale,I used to take her home in my car.We learned about love in the back of the Dodge,The lesson hadn't gone too far.You see, she was gonna be an actress,And I was gonna learn to fly.She took off to find the footlights,And I took off to find the sky.Oh, I've got something inside me,To drive a princess blind.There's a wild man, wizard,He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind.Oh, I've got something inside me,Not what my life's about,Cause I've been letting my outside tide me,Over 'till my time, runs out.

“Taxi” by Harry ChapinFrom the album “Heads and Tales”Elektra 75023 ©1972

Baby's so high that she's skying,Yes she's flying, afraid to fall.I'll tell you why baby's crying,Cause she's dying, aren't we all.There was not much more for us to talk about,Whatever we had once was gone.So I turned my cab into the driveway,Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.And she said we must get together,But I knew it'd never be arranged.And she handed me twenty dollars,For a two fifty fare, she said"Harry, keep the change."

Well another man might have been angry,And another man might have been hurt,But another man never would have let her go...I stashed the bill in my shirt.And she walked away in silence,It's strange, how you never know,But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,Such a long, long time ago.You see, she was gonna be an actressAnd I was gonna learn to fly.She took off to find the footlights,And I took off for the sky.And here, she's acting happy,Inside her handsome home.And me, I'm flying in my taxi,Taking tips, and getting stoned,I go flying so high, when I'm stoned.

Met my old lover in the grocery store,The snow was falling Christmas Eve.I stole behind her in the frozen foods,And I touched her on the sleeve.

She didn't recognize the face at first,But then her eyes flew open wide.She went to hug me and she spilled her purse,And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand,The food was totalled up and bagged.We stood there lost in our embarrassment,As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two,But couldn't find an open bar.We bought a six-pack at the liquor store,And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence,We drank a toast to now.And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,But neither one knew how.

She said she'd married her an architect,Who kept her warm and safe and dry,She would have liked to say she loved the man,But she didn't like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her,And that her eyes were still as blue.But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw,Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores,And that I must be doing well.I said the audience was heavenly,But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence,We drank a toast to now.And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,But neither one knew how.We drank a toast to innocence,We drank a toast to time.Reliving in our eloquence,Another 'auld lang syne'......

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired,And running out of things to say.She gave a kiss to me as I got out,And I watched her drive away.Just for a moment I was back at school,And felt that old familiar pain And as I turned to make my way back home,The snow turned into rain .

“Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan FogelbergFrom the album “The Innocent Age”Epic KE2 37393 ©1981

I'd like to see the Riviera And slowdance underneath the stars I'd like to watch the sun come up In a stranger's arms

This is home, home And this is home, home This is home

I'm going crazy A little everyday.And everything I wanted Is now driving me away I woke this morning To the sound of breaking hearts Mine is full of questions And it's tearing yours apart...

I woke up this morning Now I understand What it means to give your life To just one man Afraid of feeling nothing No bees or butterflies My head is full of voices And my house is full of lies

This is home, home And this is home, home This is home

I found your standing there When I was seventeen Now I'm thirty-two And I can't remember what I'd seen in you I made a promise Said it everyday Now I'm reading romance novels And I'm dreaming of yesterday

This is home, home And this is home, home This is home

“Home” by Sheryl CrowFrom the album “Sheryl Crow” A&M ©1996

Hanging on a thread, fighting for a chance, Oh, those things they said, were never meant to last.On a stretch of town right off the strip, late one nightHe wrote her name in blood on the bricks.He was a poor young tough from an old coal town,Who listened for the night, and lived for the soundsShe was a dark-haired Italian in tight blue jeansTogether they swore to live out all their dreams

As they laid there in each other's armsSomewhere in the background they'd hear that songThe one they danced to the night they met.

The Drifters were singing "Up On The Roof", And they brought it all home in just two minutes of truth

Some things aren't that easySome things just aren't easy to forgetLike the blood on the bricks.

He came home from his job one night, he'd had a little too much to drink.Got her out of bed and made her walk down to the wall down on East Carson Street.He cut his vein with a knife and the blood flowed out like a riverHe rubbed it on his hands and wrote on the wall "JJ + Little Girl Baby Forever"

“Blood on the Bricks” by Iron City HouserockersWritten by Joe GrusheckyFrom the album “Blood on the Bricks”MCA 5252 ©1981

She left the next morning. She was tired of the games they'd play,Didn't want to be there when he threw his life away.Now the radio is his only savior on a lonely Sunday nightHe walks the railroad tracks, just before daylightAnd as he walked he had the radio onAll-night DJ played his favorite songthe one they danced to the night they met.He always said he could deliver the proofBut he was never brave enough to face the truth

Some things aren't that easySome things just aren't that easy to forgetLike the blood on the bricks

He wrote their nameHe wrote their name in blood on the bricks

He always said he could deliver the proofBut he was never brave enough to face the truth

Some things aren't that easySome things aren't that easySome things aren't that easySome things just aren't that easy to forgetLike the blood on the bricks

Nobody on the roadNobody on the beachI feel it in the airThe summer's out of reachEmpty lake, empty streetsThe sun goes down aloneI'm drivin' by your houseThough I know you're not at home

But I can see you-Your brown skin shinin' in the sunYou got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, babyAnd I can tell you my love for you will still be strongAfter the boys of summer have gone

I never will forget those nightsI wonder if it was a dreamRemember how you made me crazy?Remember how I made you screamNow I don't understand what happened to our loveBut babe, I'm gonna get you backI'm gonna show you what I'm made of

I can see you-Your brown skin shinin' in the sunI see you walkin' real slow and you're smilin' at everyoneI can tell you my love for you will still be strongAfter the boys of summer have gone

“The Boys of Summer” by Don HenleyWritten by Don Henley and Mike CampbellFrom the album “Building the Perfect Beast”Geffen GHS 24026 ©1984

Out on the road today, I saw a DEADHEAD sticker on a CadillacA little voice Inside my head said, "Don't look back. You can never look back."I thought I knew what love wasWhat did I know?Those days are gone foreverI should just let them go but-

I can see you-Your brown skin shinin' in the sunYou got that top pulled down and that radio on, babyAnd I can tell you my love for you will still be strongAfter the boys of summer have gone

I can see you-Your brown skin shinin' in the sunYou got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, babyI can tell you my love for you will still be strongAfter the boys of summer have gone

The song came and wentLike the times that we spentHiding out from the rain under the carnival tentI laughed and she'd smileIt would last for awhileYou don't know what you got till you lose it all again

Listen to the mandolin rainListen to the music on the lakeListen to my heart break every time she runs awayListen to the banjo windA sad song drifting lowListen to the tears rollDown my face as she turns to go

A cool evening danceListening to the bluegrass band takes the chillFrom the air till they play the last songI'll do my timeKeeping you off my mind but there's momentsThat I find, I'm not feeling so strong

Listen to the mandolin rainListen to the music on the lakeListen to my heart break every time she runs awayListen to the banjo windA sad song drifting lowListen to the tears rollDown my face as she turns to go

“Mandolin Rain” by Bruce and John HornsbyFrom the album “The Way It Is”RCA PL89901 ©1986

Running down by the lakeshoreShe did love the sound of a summer stormIt played on the lake like a mandolinNow it's washing her away again

Listen to the mandolin rainListen to the music on the lakeListen to my heart break every time she runs awayListen to the banjo windA sad song drifting lowListen to the tears rollDown my face as she turns to go

The boat's steaming inI watch the sidewheel spin and IThink about her when I hear that whistle blowI can't change my mindI knew all the time that she'd goBut that's a choice I made long ago

Listen to the mandolin rainListen to the music on the lakeListen to my heart break every time she runs awayListen to the banjo windA sad song drifting lowListen to the tears rollDown my face as she turns to go

I've been looking so long at these pictures ofyou that I almost believe that they're real I've been living so long with my pictures of you thatI almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel

Remembering you standing quiet in the rain asI ran to your heart to be near and we kissed asthe sky fell in holding you close how I alwaysheld close in your fear remembering yourunning soft through the night you were biggerbrighter and whiter than snow andscreamed at the make-believe screamed at thesky and you finally found all your courage to let it all go

Remembering you falling into my arms cryingfor the death of you heart you were stonewhite so delicate so lost in the cold you werealways so lost in the dark remembering you how you used to be slow drowned you wereangels so much more than everything oh holdfor the last time then slip away quietly openmy eyes but I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words I couldhave held onto your heart if only I'd thought ofthe right words I wouldn't be breaking apart allmy pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you but Inever hold onto your heart looking so long forthe words to be true but always just breakingapart my pictures of you

There is nothing in the world that I everwanted more than to feel you deep in my heartThere was nothing in the world that I everwanted more than to never feel the breakingapart of my pictures of you

“Pictures of You” by The CureWritten by Robert SmithFrom the album “Disintegration”Elektra 9 60855-2 ©1989

THE FITTED SHIRT

WHEN I WAS STILL GROWING UPAND DAD HEAD OFF TO WORKHE PUT COAT AND TIE ONOVER FITTED SHIRT

NOTHING ELSE WILL FIT RIGHTOR SEEMS SO DIRECTLY APPLIEDTHAN FITTED SHIRT HUNG ON MEFITTED SHIRT ALRIGHT

I LONG FOR THE DAYS THEY USED TO SAY MA’AM AND YES SIRFOR NOW I’M GOING TO FIND BUTTONS FOR MY DAD’S OLD USED SHIRT

FITTED SHIRTFITTED SHIRT

BEEN LOOKING SO LONG NOWAND NO ONE’S SEEN AND NO ONE HEARDBUT WHEN I GO OUT TONIGHTI’M GOING TO PUT ON A FITTED SHIRT

ONE DAY IT’LL TAKE AND THEY’LL START TO MAKE SHIRTS THAT FIT RIGHTTIL THEN I SUPPOSE I STILL GOT DAD’S CLOTHES AND THAT’S ALRIGHT

FITTED SHIRTFITTED SHIRT

“The Fitted Shirt” by SpoonWritten by Britt DanielFrom the album “Girls Can Tell” Merge MRG195 ©2001

Remember those who win the game lose the love they sought to gain in debentures of quality and dubious integrity Their small-town eyes will gape at you in dull surprise when payment due exceeds accounts received at seventeen

To those of us who knew the pain of valentines that never came and those whose names were never called when choosing sides for basketball It was long ago and far away

The world was younger than today when dreams were all they gave for free to ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game, and when we dare we cheat ourselves at solitaire Inventing lovers on the phone Repenting other lives unknown that call and say – Come dance with me and murmur vague obscenities at ugly girls like me, at seventeen

I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens and high school girls with clear skinned smiles who married young and then retired

The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the truth

And those of us with ravaged faces lacking in the social graces desperately remained at home inventing lovers on the phone who called to say – come dance with me and murmured vague obscenities It isn't all it seems at seventeen

A brown eyed girl in hand me downs whose name I never could pronounce said – Pity please the ones who serve They only get what they deserve

The rich relationed hometown queen marries into what she needs with a guarantee of company and haven for the elderly

“At Seventeen” by Janis IanFrom the album “Between the Lines” Columbia PC 33394 ©1975

Yes I willYes I willYou know I will

Yes I willYes I willYou know I will

Well so longEverybodyI hope that I would see you againGoodbyeEverybodyI finally grew upThey finally let me out of school

Hey, remember the time - 'member the timeWe took that snakeAnd put down little Betsy's dresss?Now I don't think Miss AxelrodWas much impressedNo I don't think Miss AxelrodWas much impressedWell I don't think Miss AxelrodWas much impressed

Rain is fallingDown my cheekSearching for the seaTomorrow, like the rainI'll be back home again

I watchThe busAs it pulls out of viewSomeday like that busI will be leavin too

But you knowIt breaks my heartTo leave youCamelbackMy high school

And nowAloneCryin in my beer'Cause old friends saidGoodbye, I guess I'll be leavin too

But you knowIt breaks my heartTo leave youCortezI'll miss you

“Alma Mater” by Alice CooperWritten by Neil SmithFrom the album “School's Out” Warner Bros. BS-2623 ©1972

Oh, goodbyeEverybodyI hope that I would see you againSo longEverybodyHow do you like thatThey finally let me out of schoolGoodbyeAh, I wanna get out of hereThey let me out of schoolHow 'bout that, uh?GoodbyeHey, goodbye, guysMaybe I'll see -Maybe I'll see you around some time, uh?'Ey, don't make a stranger of yourself, uh?Remember the Coop, uh?May -I ho -I hope - you don't forget me or nothinGoodbye

How do I say goodbye to what we had? The good times that made us laugh Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever But forever's gone away It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road Is going to lead All I know is where we've been And what we've been through.

If we get to see tomorrow I hope it's worth all the wait It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories To be my sunshine after the rain It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories To be my sunshine after the rain It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

“It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” by Boyz II MenWritten by Freddie Person and Christine YarianFrom the album “CooleyHighHrmony” Motown MOTD-630 ©1991

I had a friend was a big baseball playerback in high schoolHe could throw that speedball by youMake you look like a fool boySaw him the other night at this roadside barI was walking in, he was walking outWe went back inside sat down had a few drinksbut all he kept talking about was

Glory days well they'll pass you byGlory days in the wink of a young girl's eyeGlory days, glory days

Well there's a girl that lives up the blockback in school she could turn all the boy's headsSometimes on a Friday I'll stop byand have a few drinks after she put her kids to bedHer and her husband Bobby well they split upI guess it's two years gone by nowWe just sit around talking about the old times,she says when she feels like cryingshe starts laughing thinking about

Glory days well they'll pass you byGlory days in the wink of a young girl's eyeGlory days, glory days

“Glory Days” by Bruce SpringsteenFrom the album “Born in the U.S.A.”Columbia QC 38653 ©1984

Now I think I'm going down to the well tonightand I'm going to drink till I get my fillAnd I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about itbut I probably willYeah, just sitting back trying to recapturea little of the glory of, well time slips awayand leaves you with nothing mister butboring stories of glory days

Glory days well they'll pass you byGlory days in the wink of a young girl's eyeGlory days, glory days

Glory days well they'll pass you byGlory days in the wink of a young girl's eyeGlory days, glory days

Looking back on when IWas a little nappy headed boyThen my only worryWas for Christmas what would be my toyEven though we sometimesWould not get a thingWe were happy with theJoy the day would bring

Sneaking out the back doorTo hang out with those hoodlum friends of mineGreeted at the back doorWith boy thought I told you not to go outside,Tryin’ your best to bring theWater to your eyesThinkin’ it might stop herFrom whoopin’ your behind

I wish those days could come back once moreWhy did those days ever have to goI wish those days could come back once moreWhy did those days ever have to goCause I love them so

“I Wish” by Stevie WonderFrom the album “Songs in the Key of Life”Tamla T13-34062 ©1976

Brother says he’s tellin’’bout you playin’ doctor with that girlJust don’t tell I’ll give youAnything you want in this whole wide worldMama gives you money for Sunday schoolYou trade yours for candy after church is through

Smokin’ cigarettes and writing something nasty on the wall (you nasty boy)Teacher sends you to the principal’s office down the wallYou grow up and learn that kinda thing ain’t rightBut while you were doin’it-it sure felt outta sight

I wish those days could come back once moreWhy did those days ever have to goI wish those days could come back once moreWhy did those days ever have to go

I got my first real six-stringBought it at the five-and-dimePlayed it till my fingers bledwas the summer of '69

Me and some guys from schoolHad a band and we tried real hardJimmy quit and Julie got marriedI shoulda known we'd never get farOh when I look back nowThe summer seemed to last foreverAnd if I had the choiceYeah - I'd always wanna be thereThose were the best days of my life

Ain't no use in complainin'When you got a job to doSpent my evenin's down at the drive-inAnd that's when I met you yeah!

Standin' on your mama's porchYou told me that you'd wait foreverOh and when you held my handI knew that it was now or neverThose were the best days of my life

Back in the summer of '69ohhh yeah the summer of 69

Man we were killin' timeWe were young and recklessWe needed to unwindI guess nothin' can lastforever - forever, no

And now the times are changin'Look at everything that's come and goneSometimes when I play that old six-stringI think about you wonder what went wrong

Standin' on your mama's porchYou told me it would last foreverOh when you held my handI knew that it was now or neverThose were the best days of my life

Back in the summer of '69it was the summerthe summer of 69ohhhh yeahme and my band back in '69

“Summer of '69” by Bryan Adams and Jim VallanceFrom the album “Reckless”A&M SP-5013 ©1984

A bottle of white, a bottle of redPerhaps a bottle of rose insteadWe'll get a table near the streetIn our old familiar placeYou and I--face to face

A bottle of red, a bottle of whiteIt all depends on your appetiteI'll meet you any time you wantIn our Italian Restaurant.

Things are okay with me these daysGot a good job, got a good officeGot a new wife, got a new lifeAnd the family's fineWe lost touch long agoYou lost weightI did not knowYou could ever look so good afterSo much time.

I remember those days hanging outAt the village greenEngineer boots, leather jacketsAnd tight blue jeansDrop a dime in the box play theSong about New OrleansCold beer, hot lightsMy sweet romantic teenage nights

Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadiesAnd the king and the queen of the promRiding around with the car top down and the radio onNobody looked any finerOr was more of a hit at the Parkway DinerWe never knew we could want more than that out of lifeSurely Brenda and Eddie would always know how to survive.

Brenda and Eddie were still going steady in the summer of '75When they decided the marriage would be at the end of JulyEveryone said they were crazy"Brenda you know you're much too lazyEddie could never afford to live that kind of life."But there we were wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye.

They got an apartment with deep pile carpetAnd a couple of paintings from SearsA big waterbed that they bought with the breadThey had saved for a couple of yearsThey started to fight when the money got tightAnd they just didn't count on the tears.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” by Billy JoelFrom the album “The Stranger”Columbia ©1979

They lived for a while in a very nice styleBut it's always the same in the endThey got a divorce as a matter of courseAnd they parted the closest of friendsThen the king and the queen went back to the greenBut you can never go back there again.

Brenda and Eddie had had it alreadyBy the summer of '75From the high to the lowTo the end of the showFor the rest of their livesThey couldn't go back to the greasersThe best they could do was pick up the piecesWe always knew they would both find a way to get byThat's all I heard about Brenda and EddieCan't tell you more than I told you alreadyAnd here we are wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye.

A bottle of red, and bottle of whiteWhatever kind of mood you're in tonightI'll meet you anytime you wantIn our Italian Restaurant.