That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be

Words & Music:

Carly Simon

 

Bm                           GM7

My father sits at night with no lights on;

Bm                         GM7

His cigarette glows in the dark.

Dm7                      CM7                Am7  D

The living room is still -- I pass by, no remark.

I tiptoe passed the master bedroom where my mother reads her magazines.

I hear her call, "Sweet dreams."  But I forget how to dream.

 

CHORUS:

F                         Em

But, you say it's time we moved in together,

Dm7                        CM7

And raised a family of our own, you and me.

F                                Em

Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be

            A                 D

You want to marry me -- we'll marry.

 

My friends from college, they're all married now.

They have their houses and their lawns.

They have their silent noons, tearful nights, angry dawns.

Their children hate them for the things they're not;

They hate themselves for what they are.

And yet they drink, they laugh -- close the wound, hide the scar.

 

CHORUS:

 

You say that we can keep our love alive;

Babe, all I know is what I see.

The couples cling and claw and drowned in loves debris.

You say we'll soar like to birds through the clouds,

But soon you'll cage me on your shelf.

I'll never learn to be just me first, by myself.

 

CHORUS: