Cecily Smith

The war was over, I was living with my folks
I yelled upstairs, «Hey mom, I’m off to grab some smokes»
And my father called, «Why you need to smoke so late?»
Well I’d lied, I had a date
Free from my folks' enslavement
Skippin' along the pavement
To see a brunnette, who I’d never met
But I never would forget, how she looked in that dress
How she stuck out her hand and said
«My name is Cecily Smith and I hope you like music
'Cause I’ve got two tickets for La Traviata»
That’s when I said, «I hate opera»
She laughed and said, «Well lucky for you
That you’re with Cecily Smith
Who cares what you are listening to
It’s who you’re listening with»
So we take our seats, her hands are folded in her lap
If not a kiss, then I at least will get a nap
So I close my eyes as the orchestra begins
Then I hear violins
And the hair on my neck was rising
A feeling new and surprising
But it wasn’t the sound that made my heart pound
No, it was because I found her hand is in mine
And that’s where it will stay until they play the final chord
She says, «Were you bored?»
And I say, «I guess it wasn’t quite so bad;
It was the best time that I ever had»
She laughed and said, «Well lucky for you
I got seats to Beethoven’s Fifth,
Who cares what you are listening to
It’s who you’re listening with.»
A perfect wife
A perfect life
The time exploded like a bullet from a gun
A week, a year, and then a marriage, and a son
And a rental where I still can hear her laugh
When I play the phonograph
So I let the music guide me
And Cecily sits beside me
A girl of nineteen, with a nervous marine
Feel her head begin to lean, as the melody soars
And though it was real, it doesn’t feel like it could be
That night when you said to me
That I’ve got two tickets for La Traviata
It’s sad but true, how much I miss you
I miss you Cecily Smith
Life is not the things that we do
It’s who we’re doing them with