I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I
Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no
William and Mary won't do

Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can't stand her
Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale
Well, I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school


Lyrics submitted by AbFab

My Old School Lyrics as written by Walter Carl Becker Donald Jay Fagen

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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My Old School song meanings
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    General Comment

    There's probably a lot of inside jokes, but this is mostly about a girl who Becker or Fagin left behind when they went to college in Annandale, NY. She was very sweet when she took him to the train station to go to school, but before he'd been there a month, she was in trouble and wouldn't be able to go to college at William and Mary. She also dumped him. Spring comes and he still has hopes for the relationship, but she wouldn't go on a trip to Mexico they had planned. She's still acting like a wild woman instead of the sweet girl who saw him off on the train to college.

    Ultimately he looks at it from some time later, living in California and thinking he's never going back to New York or that girl.

    hayes6on December 10, 2004   Link

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