Lyric

I hang my jacket neatly now

I answer when it hurts

I learned to lower my voice

After yours had left the room

I hold the door for strangers

I let the small things pass

I became easy to be near

When there was no one left to ask

You needed this softness

When I still had your name

Now all my better manners

Arrive without a place

A Gentleman After the Leaving

Polite with an empty chair

Too late to be tender

Too changed to call it fair

I fold my anger smaller

I speak before the end

I know how to say sorry

To everyone but then

The man you tried to reach

Is finally standing here

But time has locked the doorway

And you are nowhere near

I do not blame your silence

I earned it honestly

Some lessons come dressed kindly

But still arrive as grief

I keep the flowers watered

I keep the hallway bright

I became the kind of man

Who would have loved you right

That is the cruelest part

Not that you went away

But that I learned your language

After nothing could be saved

So I leave the room in order

I turn the music low

I give the world the grace

I should have given you first