On My Own

On an autumn evening
I ring up an old friend
Laughing on the telephone
He'll meet me after work has ended

I have shaved and my hair is shorter
He wears glasses
And his shadow is taller

After all the small talk
He asks about the friends we knew
One is abroad, one is in the city
All of them have gone save for one or two
Couples have split, and some have disappeared
In turns we test our memory
Stories have changed like legends of Arthur
Calling off girls' names that we held dear

And the bell rings for last orders
Out of the bar
Trying not to fall over

At my flat we flick through scrapbooks
Drinking from bottles we don't stop
Can't help feeling that renewed laughter
Is weighed down with a sense of loss

Do you remember
When you passed out I carried you home from the ball
Now it's the present I fear as time disappears

But the past is all that's left that we have in common
Oh, the past is all that's left that we have in common

It can't be bettered
Can we ever leave our past behind
All too soon he's asleep in an armchair
Holds a yearbook and an empty glass

I would take him to his home but I don't know if he's got on
I could find it
But I don't know the way there
On my own