In the back of the bottom drawer

Of the dresser by our bed

Is a box of odds and ends that I have always kept

But the man who sleeps beside me

Doesn't know it's even there

Little pieces of my past

That I shouldn't have to share



A napkin that is stained with time

Has a poem on it that didn't quite rhyme, but it made me cry

In a 'Dear Jane' letter from a different guy

He broke up with me and he told me I'm not always right

And a stolen key from an old hotel room door

In the back of the bottom drawer



I don't keep these things 'cause I'm longing to go back

I keep them because I want to stay right where I'm at

I'm reminded of my rights and wrongs

I don't want to mess this up

But I wouldn't know where I belong

Without this box of stuff



A birthday card from my first boyfriend

He signed it 'I love you' so I gave in 

Yeah, we went too far in his daddy's car 

And those Mardi Gras beads from '98 

We danced all night, stayed out so late 

We thought we were stars, closing down the bars

That champagne was cheap but still I've got that cork 

In the back of the bottom drawer



I'm not trying to hide these things from the man I love today 

But I'm a better woman for him, thanks to my yesterdays



So now I try to give more than I take 

And I bite my tongue, fight the urge to say it's my way 

Or no way at all

And now I cherish love a whole lot more

'Cause of what's 

In the back of the bottom drawer