The Way You Looked at Me [The Last Night You Saw Me]
[An epic narrative of a thousand unfortunate romances]
And so you see Her
Some hour between midnight and morning.
Your sitting slumped over the bar
and the drink starts to coddle your veins
And she walks into the room, into the spotlight
or at least so it seems the by way her dress glitters
And she's wearing a loose black tie
and your blood begins to boil
just knowing it's not yours.
And you wonder,
has it really been so long?
And she hasn't noticed you yet, but always knows your there.
She starts tapping her foot to the band,
Gazing melancholy at the piano man
The rhythm matching her cries,
the beat in time with the flow of her tears,
but suddenly she's smiling and spinning and knows your watching
as every man asks her to dance, except you
because she beautiful and they all say they want her
but she can feel your eyes on her from across the room,
And the way that she dances...a flashback comes over you...
[Every time you were too intimidated,
by the way her hips sway,
but you can't look away,
remembering the way,
they pressed against yours so many a time...]
So boldly she walks over to you and your heart beats for a moment
She smiles and gives you a welcoming hug like the first time you met
But this time its different, you remember the smell of her hair...
and memories come racing through in waves,
like a hot tonic burning down your throat...
[The image of her hair cascading down her body
lying naked beside you, her hands grazing your chest
And they way your bodies molded together,
and the hopeless sound of her sighs.]
You release her in all haste and regret
And she stares at you, so you stare back
because you know she lives for these moments
when men loose themselves in her eyes...
And everything else becomes blurry except her face,
[The way she smiled when you kissed her skin,
and how smooth it felt on your fingertips.]
Then as quickly as memories come, they flee in the air
As she suddenly turns to leave...
In another breath she's gone, and you want that breath back-
And if you were never in love...
Then how could such corruption of sex
of a body of such longing and intensity
That never denied you suddenly vanish before you
and now if you could not have hers you didn't want any
And no matter who it is you hold you're lonely without her
jolting your heart the way it never did when you walked out
Why is she effecting you now? What is this hold on your motions?
[Oh the curve of your bodies
that never connected but entwined.]
And without any control, your feet begin to follow her
And without any knowing, you're calling her name
[In that desperate way you made her say yours
the last night you beheld her in her world.]
But she's not looking back,
She's breaking free into the night
She shining down streetlights
with her hair flowing behind her,
[the hair you so often tangled in your fingers.]
And at first she's humming and then she's crying
Behind you, the bar music is like a weary soundtrack
Before you, pursuing her as her steps become dizzy
[Like every moment before she's about to break down.]
Then a man you've never seen before comes out of the corner
And grabs her and throws her against the graffiti brick wall
And in an angry rage he holds her wrists and hits her
Yells and points at you, then throws her to the pavement
And bolts off leaving cracks in the sidewalk with every step.
Standing stunned for a second,
All the world spinning around you,
you run to her disheveled form on the ground
and gently lift her up by her waist,
[Like you had so many times before,
but that was when it made her smile.]
And her mascara is running down her cheeks
and she looking at you through bruised eyes
There's no longer that spark, no longer that light
Shining through, the irises you got lost in...
No, now she's wretched inside and breaking in two.
And once she realizes its you, she tries to pull free
[In a frightened way she never did before
except that first time when you lied to her.]
And you just want to hold her now,
You just want to hold her,
You just want to hold her,
You just want to hold her,
You just want to hold her,
But she just doesn't know what to do.
But you have no way to save her,
And your stomach is churning,
And your lungs are giving out,
your brow is sweating, hands shaking,
So you hold her head and kiss her forehead...
[The same way you did that night you lay upon her,
and she gives you that lost, puzzled looked
the way she did every time you kissed her that way.]
Then you turn and race away from her
Before she can see the tears run down your face
Leaving her standing, shivering under the streetlight...
As the jazz man plays his blues in the alley
But all you can hear are violins in your head
and the sound she made every time you denied her
Because the way you looked at her on this night
Was the way she had always been looking at you.
How do I know?
Because this is the way you looked at me that night,
the last time you saw me.
