[WOMAN]
There
He was never there
Every time we talked
I'd look in his eyes
And his mind was where?
I don't mean to say
Life was doom and gloom
Things were always pleasant
If I needed help
He was in the room
He just wasn't present
He just wasn't there
Never really there
I felt so unhinged
I went out and binged
Had that dumb affair
Still, the fault's not mine
Quoting Gertrude Stein:
"There was just no there there."
There, there
Don't know why I care
'Cept that I am here
'Cause he wasn't
[MAN]
There
[WOMAN]
There
[MAN]
I was never
[WOMAN]
There
[MAN]
There
She was always
[WOMAN]
There
[MAN]
Saying "George, be"
[WOMAN]
There
[MAN]
And my mind said where?
Did I have a choice?
Love is worth the fight
Not a thing you squander
[WOMAN]
Yoo hoo, George!
[MAN]
Then I'd hear her voice
[WOMAN]
George?
[MAN]
Urgent and uptight
[WOMAN]
Hello?
[MAN]
And my mind would wander
[WOMAN]
Come in, George
[MAN]
So I wasn't there
[WOMAN]
Couldn't he be there?
[MAN]
Never really there
[WOMAN]
Once an evening there
[MAN]
And I felt maligned
That my vagrant mind
Meant I didn't care
[WOMAN]
It was clear that he didn't care
[MAN]
Then, to make things smooth
She would try soothe
Sticking in her "There, there"
There
[WOMAN]
There, there
[MAN]
Got out of her hair
'Cause she made it clear
That I wasn't there
[WOMAN]
I'm not a jerk
Though it's the way I seem
[MAN]
Wanted to be there
[WOMAN]
He had his work
I gave him time to dream
[MAN]
Knew I should be there
[WOMAN]
Lost my desire
Waiting till he awoke
[MAN]
Worked at being there
[WOMAN]
Longing for fire
Living with smoke
Isn't a joke
[MAN]
I tried to go her way
Wanting things improved
Tired of being not there
[WOMAN]
Is it so hard a task?
[MAN]
Think of my dismay
Finding she had moved
By the time I got there
[WOMAN]
Too much to ask?
[MAN]
She was over there
[WOMAN]
I was here
I was always here
[MAN]
Where the hell was there?
[WOMAN]
There was here
Could it be more clear?
[BOTH]
Groping like the blind
How we hoped to find
One place we could share
Faults we tried to hide
Living side by side
Funny, when they're there
They're there
[WOMAN]
There, there
And it isn't fair
[MAN]
No, it really isn't fair
[WOMAN]
That we wind up here
[MAN]
That we wind up here
[BOTH]
When we once were there
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
There was written by Richard Maltby Jr. & David Shire.
David Shire released There on Sun Jan 01 1989.