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Affair On 8th Avenue Lyrics
The perfume that she wore was from some little store
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night
Her long flowing hair came softly undone
And it lay all around
And she brushed it down as I stood by her side
In the warmth of her love
And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin
And then we played a game only she could win
And she told me a riddle I'll never forget
Then left with the answer I've never found yet
How long, said she, can a moment like this
Belong to someone
What's wrong, what is right, when to live or to die
We must almost be born
So if you should ask me what secrets I hide
I'm only your lover, don't make me decide
The perfume that she wore was from some little store
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well
And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin
And then we played a game only she could win
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night
Her long flowing hair came softly undone
And it lay all around
And she brushed it down as I stood by her side
In the warmth of her love
And then we played a game only she could win
And she told me a riddle I'll never forget
Then left with the answer I've never found yet
Belong to someone
What's wrong, what is right, when to live or to die
We must almost be born
So if you should ask me what secrets I hide
I'm only your lover, don't make me decide
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well
And then we played a game only she could win
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night
Song Info
Submitted by
butneveroutgunned On May 27, 2006
More Gordon Lightfoot
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I have the benefit of having read Lightfoot's biography so I know this song refers to a very brief affair he had in NYC, while married. I think he felt guilty about it so in the song had the woman ask the "the riddle" which in his mind justified his affair, i.e., who do the moments of our lives belong to but ourselves, what's wrong, what's right, should this liason be a secret I keep hidden? I don't believe this song made his performing setlist much in his later career, as he had changed and didn't want to be seen as a philanderer. Nonetheless, the song is hauntingly beautiful.