"When He Was Here" - Janis Ian

"When He Was Here": Words and music by Janis Ian & Lance Cowan
Performed by Janis Ian

WHEN HE WAS HERE
He got the new car, she got the kids
They sold the house and lived apart
I kept the memories of how it had been
Kept every picture in my heart
When he was here, she would smile
They would laugh for a while
She would ask, "Am I still your only one?"
They would dance cheek to cheek
by the light of our TV, and she
never needed memories when he was here
He found his freedom, she found a job
and gave away the wedding gown
Spent every weekend calling her old friends
asking discreetly "What's he doing now?"
Chorus
The letters and the photographs are locked away
for rainy days when we are brave
I ask her did she taste forever in his kiss?
Does it have to end like this?
both of us just wishing he was here
She would smile, they would laugh for a while
Then she would ask, "Am I still your only one?"
and they would dance cheek to cheek
by the light of the TV, and we
never needed memories when he was here

I invited Lance to write one night after I saw him playing third-string at a local writer's night. He had an incredible song about the Holocaust that inspired me to go home and begin working on "Tattoo". This song is still one of my favorites; it says a lot of what I felt when my folks divorced, and I'd imagine what a lot of other people feel under the same circumstance.

Copyright Taosongs Two (50%)/Forrest Hills Music Inc./Sony Publishing. International copyright secured. All rights reserved; used by permission. Archival photographs provided by Janis Ian. All rights reserved; used by permission.

Follow www.bettertimeswillcome.com/ for hundreds of downloads from mp3s to coloring pages. Feel free to make your own version, because music is for everyone!
Subscribe to this channel: http://smarturl.it/JanisSub
Check out https://janisian.com and https://thepearlfoundation.com
Janis Ian on iTunes: www.smarturl.it/JanisIan