Hello old friend, what a strange coincidence to find you 
It's been fifteen years since we last met, but I still recognised you 
So call the barman over here, and let us fill our glasses 
And drink a toast to olden times where all our memories lie 
Where all our memories lie 

Do you remember the time we were young? 
Lowly, lowly, low 
Outside the window the frosty moonlight hung 
On the midnight snow 
So we pulled our scarves around our faces in the night 
Huddled on the doorsteps where the fairylights shone bright 
Singing Christmas carols while our breath hung in the light 
It all comes back like yesterday 
It almost seems like yesterday 

Do you remember the changes as we grew? 
Slowly, slowly, slow 
Sneaking in the back way into movies after school 
For the evening show 
Chasing skinny blue jean girls across the building-site 
Checking out the dance floor while the band played "Hold Me Tight" 
See the blonde one over there: I bet she'd be alright 
It all comes back like yesterday 
It almost seems like yesterday 

While I talked he sat and he never made a sound 
Staring at the glass beside me 
Hey old friend, tell me what's on your mind? 
Silence grows on you like ivy 
Ivy 

Do you remember the church across the sands? 
Holy, holy, ho 
You stood outside and planned to travel the lands 
Where the pilgrims go 
So you packed your world up inside a canvas sack 
Set off down the highway with your rings and Kerouac 
Someone said they saw you in Nepal a long time back 
Tell me why you look away 
Don't you have a word to say? 

He said, "I don't remember ... I Don't want to remember 
In fact I've heard too much already 
I don't want to think, just leave me here to drink 
Wrapped up in the warmth of New York City 
Oh, oh, it seems you just don't know 
And you just don't understand me 
I've got no use for the tricks of modern times 
They tangle all my thoughts like ivy 
Ivy" 

So I left him, and I went out to the street 
Lowly, lowly, low 
Where the red light girls were coming after me 
Forty dollar show 
All across the city's heart the lights were coming on 
The hotel lift softly hummed a Cole Porter song 
If I went to look for him I knew he would be gone 
A picture-card of yesterday 
A photograph of yesterday

And far off in a deserted part of town 
The shadows like a silent army 
Flooded out the rooms in pools of blue and brown 
And stuck to all the walls like ivy 
Ivy 
Ivy