The Late Show Lyrics by Jackson Browne

The Late Show

Everyone Ive ever known has wished me well
Anyway thats how it seems, its hard to tell
Maybe people only ask you how youre doing
cause thats easier than letting on how little they could care
But when you know that youve got a real friend somewhere
Suddenly all the others are so much easier to bear

Now to see things clear its hard enough I know
While youre waiting for reality to show
Without dreaming of the perfect love
And holding it so far above
That if you stumbled onto someone real, youd never know
[youd never know]
You could be with somebody who is lonely too
[sometimes it doesnt show]
He might be trying to get across to you
[words can be so slow]
When your own emptiness is all thats getting through
There comes a point when youre not sure why youre still talking
I passed that point long ago
[long ago]
Now Im so tired of all this circling
And all these glimpses of the end
[you know its useless to pretend]
Thats all the voices say:
"youll go right on circling
Until youve found some kind of friend"

i saw you through the laughter and the noise
You were talking with the soldiers and the boys
While they scuffled for your weary smiles
I thought of all the empty miles
And the years that Ive spent looking for your eyes
[looking for your eyes]
And now Im sitting here wondering what to say
[that you might recognize]
Afraid that all these words might scare you away
[and break through the disguise]
No one ever talks about their feelings anyway
Without dressing them in dreams and laughter
I guess its just too painful otherwise

Look
Its like youre standing in the window
Of a house nobody lives in
And Im sitting in a car across the way
[lets just say]
Its an early model chevrolet
[lets just say]
Its a warm and windy day
You go and pack your sorrow
The trash man comes tomorrow
Leave it at the curb and well just roll away