Three Up, Two Across

There's an old man
Who lives in our apartment

The one off Benefit
Three up, two across
With the dent in the door
And we never knew who put it there?

I knocked
I went, because--
I don't know why
Sort of like that song, you know?

'Broke into the old apartment?'

The song came on the radio
And I was on Benefit
And I thought--

Why not?

It's early on a Friday night
What else do I have to do?

So yeah, an old guy lives there
And his memory's not so good

Told me the same story about his dad
Three times
And then he got upset
And asked me to leave

While I was on my way out
This old woman across the hall stopped me
And asked if I was related to the old man

I guess she'd been looking for relatives of his
Because she didn't know how much longer
He was going to be able
To live on his own

I told her 'No'
And 'I'm sorry,' you know
And she said it was okay
And did I want to come in
For some coffee

And I was kind of rattled
Just being there, you know
Because it's where...

I mean, five years is a long time
Especially when you're nineteen
And twenty
Like we were

And to see someone else
Living in that apartment
Was--

Anyway, I went in
And had coffee with her
And we talked
And she told me about her husband
And how he passed away
And she's still got all his old shirts
Hanging in the bedroom closet
And did I think it was weird
To hold onto stuff like that?

And I told her 'No'

I didn't think it was weird

I told her we all hold onto things we shouldn't

Can't blame her for that, right?

So...

How you been?