back then
November, 2025
from: Unrecorded
we sat out on the bench,
PRETENDED TO BE FRENCH,
tried all our high school phrases,
« où est la salle de bain? »
I thought you were so smart,
and you were good at art,
you drew me pictures I hung
inside my locker door back then,
both of our moms were sad,
our dads threw up their hands,
as kids, you just adjust and
you do the best you can,
I ran with you after school,
if anybody asked,
I said we were just friends, but
I was a lonesome fool back then,
PRETENDED TO BE FRENCH,
tried all our high school phrases,
« où est la salle de bain? »
I thought you were so smart,
and you were good at art,
you drew me pictures I hung
inside my locker door back then,
I was so numb,
I can’t remember if I even kissed you once,
back then we were so young,
I watched you orbit, but you never landed..
both of our moms were sad,
our dads threw up their hands,
as kids, you just adjust and
you do the best you can,
I ran with you after school,
if anybody asked,
I said we were just friends, but
I was a lonesome fool back then,
I was so numb,
I was afraid of anything that felt like love,
back then we were so young,
but when I wrote that note
that ended with: « je t’aime »,
I meant it…
« où est la salle de bain? » = "where is the bathroom?"
« je t’aime » = "I love you"
Notes:
Am (Em, capo 5; originally written on piano)
PRETENDED TO BE FRENCH is a "song game" group prompt, sent out by Matt the Electrician on 10/26/2025.