[Verse 1]
Well I almost didn't know him
I nearly passed him by
It took us both a moment
To get over our surprise
And we hugged each other clumsily
And laughed a bit too long
As the shoppers on South Anne Street hurried on

[Verse 2]
I said I’d heard that he was married
And living overseas
He said he'd seen my posters
On a billboard near his street
And he'd heard about what happened
And we both just looked away
And headed from South Anne Street to McDaid’s

[Chorus]
Where we drank for ancient love for hours an end
Raised our glasses to remember absent friends
And we drank to chance encounters too long overdue
On South Anne Street on a Tuesday afternoon

[Verse 3]
And it felt just like it used to
Like we've never been apart
Like back when we were students
On a bench in College Park
And I felt something deep inside me
I really can't explain
In a pub beside South Anne Street in the rain
[Chorus]
And we drank for ancient love for hours an end
Raised our glasses to remember absent friends
And we drank to chance encounters too long overdue
On South Anne Street on a Tuesday afternoon

[Verse 4]
We embraced before we parted
To walk into the night
With a complicated sadness
At this complicated life
Oh, ships passing in the night
Occasionally meet
At the corner of South Anne and Grafton Street

[Chorus]
And we drank for ancient love for hours an end
Raised our glasses to remember absent friends
And we drank to chance encounters too long overdue
On South Anne Street on a Tuesday afternoon

[Chorus]
And we drank for ancient love for hours an end
Raised our glasses to remember absent friends
Oh and sometimes if I'm lonely and I'm walking on my own
I'll detour down South Anne Street going home