She asked me how love gets along
with me all by myself
Wonders how I keep from getting
dust upon that shelf
She wanted to know how a man like me
ends up alone, anyway
'Was I breakin' all the rules of love
and the games that people play

I said not too many hangin' round
of all the ones I meet
In time they always find that I'm on
the bitter side of sweet

She huddled on the gate on my block
where I always catch my bus
An' I hoped it wouldn't stop today,
there'd just be the two of us
But it showed up like it always does,
about twenty minutes late
I told her it'd be right along
but she said she couldn't wait
She didn't need any assistance
in putting some distance,
between us on that empty street
She was of a mind,
in record time that I'm on
the bitter side of sweet

That I act this was is really not my fault
It just means all the sweet things I've got to say
Come along with a grain of salt


It's no wonder I'm not scoring points,
I'm always out of bounds
If any wise willed words convince the point,
I'm foolish by the pound
An' a fool can see no one believes
what's rollin' off my tongue
An' I've never seen a recipe
for sweet talkin' anyone
I could have written a book on
the lessons I took
in the agony of defeat
An showed you all the signs
between the lines on
the bitter side of sweet