in honor of you (george)

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 steiners

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