If I went home tomorrow
I would be obliged to borrow
A thousand little things I do not need

My folks, they know me well
But surely they'd begin to tell
I love them but their words I do not heed

I read the books then I burned the pages
Found the birds screaming in their cages
Where are the young voices of all ages?
I would die to hear them sing

You don't have to go the lonely way
That directs your heart with sorrow
And leads your mind in disarray
Don't pretend that you don't know
25 years and nothing to show

People from my town
They stop to look me up and down
And say how marvelous it must be

They lament the lack of money
And cackle about some sweet, young honey
The one they're sure is chasing after me

Then I see the change come into their faces
They say, 'I wish I knew such splendid places'
But life's become a string of whiffs and traces
And in my head I hear them sing

You don't have to go the lonely way
That directs your heart with sorrow
And leads your mind in disarray
Don't pretend that you don't know
25 years and nothing to show

You don't have to go the lonely way
But you go there anyway
You don't have to go the lonely way, no