| (Em) | Hello old friend, what a strange coincidence to find you |
| It's been fifteen years since we last met, but I still recognized you | |
| G F EmD CD | So call the bar-man over here, and let us fill our glasses |
| G Em D CD | And drink a toast to olden times, where all our memories lie, |
| GD Em | Where all our memories lie. |
| G Em C G ‑ Em C FC/E | Do you remember, the time when we were young: Lowly lowly low |
| G Em C G ‑ Em C ‑ | Outside the window the frosty moonlight hung: On the midnight snow |
| D ‑ C G | So we pulled our scarves around our faces in the night |
| D ‑ C G | Huddled on the doorsteps where the fairylights shone bright |
| D ‑ C A | Singing Christmas carols while our breath hung in the light |
| G D A CD | It all comes back like yesterday |
| Em D C ‑ | It almost seems like yesterday |
| G Em C G | Do you remember the changes as we grew? |
| G Em C FC/E | Slowly, slowly, slow |
| G Em C G | Sneaking in the back way into movies after school |
| G Em C | For the evening show |
| D ‑ C G | Chasing skinny blue jean girls across the building-site |
| D ‑ C G | Checking out the dance floor while the band played "Hold Me Tight" |
| D ‑ C A | See the blonde one over there: I bet she'd be alright |
| G D A CD | It all comes back like yesterday |
| Em D C | It almost seems like yesterday |
| C G D A | While I talked he sat and never made a sound |
| C G DE | Staring at the glass beside me |
| C G D A | Hey old friend tell me whats on your mind |
| C G DE DC | Silence grows on you like i-vy, i-vy |
| G Em C G | Do you remember the church across the sands |
| G Em C FC/E | Holy, holy, ho |
| G Em C G | You stood outside and planned to travel to the lands |
| G Em C | Where the pilgrims go |
| D ‑ C G | So you packed your world up inside a canvas sack |
| D ‑ C G | Set off down the highway with your rings and Kerouac |
| D ‑ C A | Someone said they saw you in Nepal a long time back |
| G D A CD | Tell me why you look away |
| Em D A | Don't you have a word to say? |
| A ‑ G ‑ | He said I don't remember, I don't want to remember |
| F G A | In fact I've heard too much already |
| A ‑ G ‑ | I don't want to think, just leave me here to drink |
| F G A ‑ | Wrapped up in the warmth of New York City |
| C G DA A | Oh oh, it seems you just don't know |
| C G DE | And you just don't understand me |
| C G DA A | I've got no use for the tricks of modern times |
| C G DE DC | They tangle all my thoughts like i-vy, i-vy. |
| G Em C G | So I left him and I went out to the street |
| G Em C FC/E | Lowly, lowly, low |
| G Em C G | Where the red light girls were coming after me |
| G Em C | Forty dollar show |
| D ‑ C G | All across the city the lights were coming on |
| D ‑ C G | The hotel lift softly hummed a Cole Porter song |
| D ‑ C A | If I looked for him I knew he would be gone |
| G D A CD | A picture-card of yesterday |
| Em D C | A photograph of yesterday |
| C G DA A | And far off in a deserted part of town |
| C G DE E | The shadows like a silent army |
| C G DA A | Flooded out the rooms in pools of blue and brown |
| C G DE DC DE | And stuck to all the walls like i-vy, i-vy, i-vy. |