“You’re an asshole,” she told me
And I thought, well, that’s not wrong
I spent that summer puzzling out the meaning
of a Guided by Voices song
Right away that bass line disarmed me
Light from face to face, those kisses were lies
And I never parsed a story
from the song or from that night
I’d have to carry both of them with me
When I packed my life up tight
And sang, bye-bye to the sweet summer shade
Bye-bye to the ones that I’ve betrayed
Whether west up to the mountains or east down to the sea
Bye-bye, we’re gonna set each other free

I only worked from eight to three
And the rest of my time was mine
Getting home in the heat, I’d sit at the piano
And listen to the crickets whine
The Liszt E-flat concerto had caught me
So this was that and here was there, and so I started again
See, I had someone to catch up with later
I had a meadow on the edge of town
I had fireflies in the gloaming
I had ambitions to kick around
Now I sing, bye-bye, in that sexy summer way
Bye-bye to that thunderstormy day
When I was terrified to touch you, and you were hesitant with me
Bye-bye, it’s time we set each other free

We watched the first two hours, yeah we opened up the book
Next day, its Doug fir shadows lingered everywhere I looked
The story threw its stones, and I was struck cold
Its bluish greenish tones had drawn us in
We would race up the hill in the morning
You were leaving in two days’ time
We had second-story windows to gaze from
We had clock towers to climb
A-singing bye-bye, to an old familiar tune
Singing bye-bye, under a virgin prairie moon
And it might be a diversion or it might be where you’re meant to be
Bye-bye, we need to set each other free

Singing, bye-bye to that swinging summer song
Bye-bye to the ones that I have wronged
Whether west up to the mountains or east down to the sea
Bye-bye, we’re gonna set each other free