My daddy sent me off to Baton Rouge
in nineteen sixty-nine
He said our love was like a forest fire
and he'd end it with the miles
So you rode with us to Temple, Texas
where I did catch the train
I remember waving back at you
through a silted window pane

(chorus)
I said, "Fare thee well true love
of mine"
I said, "Fare thee well sweet lips
of wine"
And you said, "Fare thee well my
Texas rose"
And then you blew a kiss of
innocence as the train began to roll
... So long ago
You'd gone off to fight the war when
I returned from school
I traded in my innocence when the
springtime came to bloom
I married for my family... one night
I dreamed of you
And you were running from me in
the rain down on Congress Avenue

(repeat chorus)

I saw you once in a crowded bar...
it was Christmas time
I was frightened by the thunder of
our hearts in sixty nine
Because I live my life in whispers now
and I choose to live alone
So I slipped back to the avenue and
flipped my collar to the cold

(repeat chorus)

Where did we go?
That long ago?
So long ago