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