She smiled in a big way, the way a girl like that smiles
When the world is hers and she held my eyes
Out in the breezeway
Down by the shore in the lazy summer

And she pulled me in
And she bit my lip and she made me hers
She looked deep into me as we laid together
Quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer

But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
When I only had barely enough to hang on

And she combed my hair and she kissed my teeth
And she made me better than I'd been before
She told me bad things
I wished I could change in the lazy summer

And she told me, laughing down to her core
So she would not cry as she lay in my lap
She said, "Nobody here can live forever
Quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer"

But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
When I only had barely enough to hang on
She said, "No one is alone the way you are alone"
And I held her looser than I would have
If I ever could have known
Some things tie my life together
And slender threads
And things to treasure
Days like that should last and last and last

But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
But I've already lost
When I only had barely enough to hang on
Hang on, hang on, hang on