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

(instrumental)

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