Time and time again I tried to get back to my home town
On my mind again I'm on my way back, take a look around
At the places I remember where my picture comes undone
Such a long way back and this boy's lost track of the place where he was young

And I'm back on the street where I used to live
And I passed an old friend who was holding his kid
And I swear I can almost hear mamma call my name

And I'm back on the river where I was Huck Finn
Just Charlie McLaughlin he always played Jim
Now I know why they say you just can't go home again
Yes, I know why they say you just can't go homе again

My friends and I could talk the night away about wherе we were going
Laying out our lives, we had no way of ever knowing
The plans we made keep changing and people they just do the same
It's a long way back and we all lose track of the faces and the names

And I stop for an ice cream at the corner drug store
A double-deck cone ain't a dime anymore
Have things really changed so much or is it just me?

And I asked about Tom, he ran the picture show
And somebody said he died years ago
Now I know why they say you just can't go home again
Yes, I know why they say you just can't go home again
Such a long way back and this boy's lost track
Of the places and their names

And I spoke to the bum as he sat on the ground
That crazy old man he's still toasting the town
For the first time in my life I understood

How the wine that had taken his worries and cares
Had also taken the love he once shared
Then he cried as he said I just can't go home again
Now I know why they say you just can't go home again
Yes, I know why they say you just can't go home again