“This was one of the first songs I wrote where I really thought about structure and content. It was an ode to the past and a nod to the future as we headed into it. But most of all, I wrote it for my friends as we finished high school and headed into what I thought was the abyss. It was to me anyway. We were saying goodbye to our youth, and since then I have played it live at pretty much every show I do because people never stopped requesting it. It must still resonate with people, so I don’t question it. But I sincerely love playing it.”

Outside the rain is falling while my mind is filled with doubt
My wine glass has been emptied and my cigarette’s gone out
I wish that I could understand the things I dream about
Maybe I never will

I sit and wonder how it is I’ve stayed alive this long
My life has been a cruel collage of things that I’ve done wrong
There has got to be a reason, or I wouldn’t seem as strong
As I do

And if by chance I come upon this reason in a dream
Perhaps my thoughts will make more sense than I have made it seem
It’s too bad that the end will never justify the means
But no one said “satisfaction guaranteed”

As I grow old the image in my mind becomes quite clear
It’s not the alienation or the loneliness I fear
It’s the chance that you won’t be there when the end is drawing near
Please swear to me you won’t let that come true

Looking from a bird’s eye view of things that we have done
We were more than friends or lovers; we were more or less as one
We were ignorant and dangerous, but it sure as hell was fun
I remember – do you?

When we were kids it was simpler to justify the risks we took
We worried about the clothes we wore, we bitched about our looks
And the past was only something that we read about in books
But there’s one thing that you said that I remember….

CHORUS
Don’t let them tell you that silence is a virtue
You’ll just accept the things that you don’t understand
They can’t avoid the fact that we are getting stronger
If we beat them at their own game, we will gain the upper hand

What will happen years from now when we’re flung out on our own
And we’re forced to sanctify this cage into which we’ve been thrown
When I reach out for your hand will you safely guide me home
Who cares if it’s the blind leading the blind

When I’m lost in my delusions of this stained and scalded plight
When I’m a stone’s throw from the glass door leading to the final flight
Who was there to drag the sun up when we both knew it was night
I won’t forget

Whatever fate bestows on us we’ll never be ashamed
From the bowels of obscurity to the sleek facade of fame
The words may fad from year to year but the story’s still the same
You changed me with your words

CHORUS
Don’t let them tell you that silence is a virtue
You’ll just accept the things that you don’t understand
They can’t avoid the fact that we are getting stronger
If we beat them at their own game, we will gain…………………..

Whatever fate bestows on us we’ll never be ashamed
From the bowels of obscurity to the sleek facade of fame
The words may fade from year to year but the story’s still the same
You changed me
You changed me
I love you

©1986 Shael Risman