Elaine

Yesterday we played in alleys that emptied out to busy roadways
Now today those lanes are lush valleys of neglected, over-grown terrain
I'm ashamed at the lack of any order and it kills my will to visit in that state
That's okay things change and I'm older and I won't go back to live there anyway

Elaine
We were children with powers limited to our will to create
An escape far beyond our town's boundaries that held us down like tigers in a cage
It's a place that at times was pretty brutaland I lost a lot of my innocent ways
We'd play unsupervised on the corners but we lived to tell the tales another day
Yesterday we had places to run
We had fun growing up

Elaine
I can still see two children on their way to school
Where the nuns would beat us if we didn't behave
As we'd run through the gardens of grown-ups who would chase us all away
It was great in the summer sun, calling the names of all the friends that we made
Now today we are born and die from boredom
Yes, I'm biased, but it just isn't the same
My complaint is we deprive kids from exploring
Your child's living in a nanny-state
Long ago, yesterday, we were taught to look both ways before you cross

Elaine
The youth that we lost was replaced with age, but that's the cost
Our ideals had a place yesterday
When the street lights came on, we would know
It was time to go home

Elaine
Our old neighborhood, so vibrant has decayed
It was alive, but it has died
The good times are hard to sustain
But somewhere in my heart, they remain
I'll always remember Elaine