How can I go on when every thought hurts?
I flirt with the notion of no more songs
My old familiar foe, self pity haunts me
I’m stuck in some over-the-mountain town
In a meaningless bar where fat hands ‘round the Steiner’s
And no one cares if it suns or pours, in an hour between trains
Barney puts the record on and the aimless rise to dance
Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you
I see you, George, in your apartment on Riverside Drive
Some fifty years ago, your fingers on the keys
Looking for the song, looking for that hook
Embrace me, you irreplaceable you
Who were you then? Did you have a woman?
Were you hard up for cash?
Did you ever know you’d be heard in the middle distance
In some over-the-mountain town?
Connecting to the muscles of the dancers
In this close and smoky room
Who were you then? Were you sure of your tune?
Or were your dreams and your courage all broken down like mine?
Now there’s something that clutches the heart
A melody that stays year after year
I love all the many charms about you
Above all I want my arms around you
I’m already late for my train
But I don’t think about that, I think of you, George
At your piano, sweating in the summer heat
By the way, did you get your girl
Did you by your house in the country?
Did you wait for something that never came?
Did you die still waiting for your train?
Don’t be a naughty baby, come to mama
Come to mama do
Some part of your heart twists and turns in mine
Your soul rises, there’s an angel in charge
There’s one note that weeps the truth
And makes my life mean something just for the length of
Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you
Embrace me, you irreplaceable you
Don’t be a naughty baby, come to mama
Come to mama do
I will go home, I will try again
I will catch the train, catch another breath
Move back to the piano and let the notes do what they’ll do
In honor of you, George, in honor of you