"A Man / Me / Then Jim" lyrics

I had one friend in high school
Recently, he hung himself with string
His note said, "If living is the problem
Well, that's just baffling"
And at the wake, I waited around
To see my ex first love
And I barely recognized her
But I knew exactly what she was thinking of
We sat quietly in the corner
Whispering close about loss
And I remembered why I loved her
And I asked her why I drove her off

She said
"The slow fade of love
Its soft edge might cut you
And our poor friend Jim
Well, he just lived within
The slow fade of love"

A woman calls my house once a week
She's always selling things
Some charity, a phone plan
A subscription to a magazine
And as I turned her down, I always do
There was something trembling in her voice
I said, "Hey, what troubles you?"
She said, "I'm surprised you noticed
Well, my husband, he's leaving
And I can't convince him to stay
And he'll take our daughter with him
She wants to go with him anyway
I'm sorry I'm hard to live with
Living is the problem for me
I'm selling people things they don't want
When I don't know what you need"

He said
"The slow fade of love
And its mist might choke you
It's my gradual descent
Into a life I never meant
It's the slow fade of love"

I was driving south of Melrose
I happened upon my old lover's old house
I found myself staring at the closed oak door
Like the day she threw me out
"Dianna, Dianna, Dianna, I would die for you
I'm in love with you completely
I'm afraid that's all I can do"
She said, "You can sleep upon my doorstep
You can promise me indifference, Jim
But my mind is made up
And I'll never let you in again"

For the slow fade of love
It might hit you from below
It's your gradual descent
Into a life you never meant
It's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
Baby, it's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love
Slow fade of love
It's the slow fade of love