Track 2 of the album Four Lines on the Back of a Postcard · 2021
Whatever Happened to Us, Old Friend
“Two kids on the school steps swore they would never lose touch. I wrote the melody for the one who forgot to ring.”
neoclassical · neoclassical · nostalgic ballad · 3:52
Lyrics
We swore we'd never lose touch on the steps of the old school hall Two kids with borrowed records and our backs against the wall Then came the jobs and cities and the years went rolling by Now your name is just a photograph that catches in my eye No quarrel and no slammed door Just a little less, then a little more Whatever happened to us, old friend Did we drift or did we choose Two boats let go from the same warm shore With nothing much to lose I think of you at the turning of the year When the evenings fall too soon Whatever happened to us, old friend I'd still sing you a tune I heard you've got a garden now and a dog that's far too old I heard you laugh the way you did, that's what a mutual friend told I wrote a note a dozen times and never found the end There's always one more reason not to ring a distant friend No quarrel and no slammed door Just a little less, then a little more Whatever happened to us, old friend Did we drift or did we choose Two boats let go from the same warm shore With nothing much to lose I think of you at the turning of the year When the evenings fall too soon Whatever happened to us, old friend I'd still sing you a tune Time is a river, it doesn't take sides It carries us quietly out with the tide But a river can bend, and a river can turn And a friend is a lesson that's never unlearned Whatever happened to us, old friend If you're listening, hear me now The door is open, the kettle's on I'll find a way somehow I think of you at the turning of the year And I hope you think of me Whatever happened to us, old friend Come and sit with me Old friend, old friend Come and sit with me