"The Man Without Reflection (1984 Version)" lyrics
I'm writing by the window
Where the city learns to sleep
Ink runs slow like mercy
I was never meant to keep
This letter's sealed in silence
Fifty years before it's true
If you're reading this, my darling
Then I couldn't stay with you
This is a love I never named out loud
A tune I hummed beneath my breath
They'd have locked me in their kindness
Called it madness, called it death
So I folded all my truth away
And let the years go by
Now I'm leaving you a song, my child
Before I say goodbye
I loved him in the quiet
Where no witness could remain
They would've called me broken
If they'd heard me say his name
So I smiled like other women
Wore a ring, played my part
While a ghost was softly sleeping
In the back room of my heart
A kiss is not a moment
It's a chain you cannot see
Once your lips have learned his silence
You belong to him completely
Don't you kiss him, my sweet child
No matter how he calls your name
Cause after that no living man
Will ever feel the same
I loved him in the quiet
Where no witness could remain
They would've called me broken
If they'd heard me say his name
So I smiled like other women
Wore a ring, played my part
While a ghost was softly sleeping
In the back room of my heart
If you read this and you understand
Then I wasn't insane
Just a woman who once loved a ghost
And never loved again
Burn this letter or keep it close
Like an old tune, cracked and blue
And if he ever reaches for you, baby walk on through
Where the city learns to sleep
Ink runs slow like mercy
I was never meant to keep
This letter's sealed in silence
Fifty years before it's true
If you're reading this, my darling
Then I couldn't stay with you
This is a love I never named out loud
A tune I hummed beneath my breath
They'd have locked me in their kindness
Called it madness, called it death
So I folded all my truth away
And let the years go by
Now I'm leaving you a song, my child
Before I say goodbye
I loved him in the quiet
Where no witness could remain
They would've called me broken
If they'd heard me say his name
So I smiled like other women
Wore a ring, played my part
While a ghost was softly sleeping
In the back room of my heart
A kiss is not a moment
It's a chain you cannot see
Once your lips have learned his silence
You belong to him completely
Don't you kiss him, my sweet child
No matter how he calls your name
Cause after that no living man
Will ever feel the same
I loved him in the quiet
Where no witness could remain
They would've called me broken
If they'd heard me say his name
So I smiled like other women
Wore a ring, played my part
While a ghost was softly sleeping
In the back room of my heart
If you read this and you understand
Then I wasn't insane
Just a woman who once loved a ghost
And never loved again
Burn this letter or keep it close
Like an old tune, cracked and blue
And if he ever reaches for you, baby walk on through
