Waving Goodbye 04: Why Should I Weep

I know it’s foolish, but I keep walking by that café we used to go to, which of course is closed now and completely unlikely to open anytime soon, and even if it did, I don’t think I’ll be seeing you in there.  But I still shade my eyes and peer through the window, imagining that you’re sitting inside, laughing at some stupid thing on your phone, reaching without looking up for your latte and not quite finding it, and what it would be like if you looked up and saw me and waved. Oh, Johny.  Hi. And I started singing that song you always used to sing about the rose in the hedge and the bird in the tree, shot by some careless boy, and the mermaid. The mermaid makes me think of you: I might hear your voice in a dream but I’ll probably never see you again. You’re not in the song any more.  And then—I know this will make you laugh—I started tearing up, not for me, not for you, not for the friends I’d never see again, but for that poor little bird,  killed for no reason.  And I know what you’d say if you were here: Why should you weep, Johny, why should you cry?  He’s gone but his song still hangs by.  I’m sure that’s what you’d say if you were here.


Why Should I Weep lyrics