Damaged Goods

Christine Lavin

"Damaged Goods"

He was always a bit too open, a bit too quick to please.

Such eager men make women feel I'll at ease.

Relationships never lasted long,

But there was nothing in particular you could say he was doing wrong.

But now his loneliness is beginning to show

His confidence is at an all-time low.

He's always second-guessing; look at him hesitate.

The littlest decisions are the hardest to make

Cause now he thinks of himself as damaged goods.

So far no one's ever treated him as gently as he hoped they would

And he don't hold his head up quite so high

And he finds himself longing for the innocence of times gone by.

She had her first man when she was 23,

Years after all her girlfriends gave away their virginity.

And now at last she thought her life had begun,

But she sees things a little differently now that she's 31.

She's had a lot of lovers, but no special man

Has ever really touched her or tried to understand.

Now there's an awkward hesitation in everything she does.

If only her life could be simple like it was,

But now she thinks of herself as damaged goods.

So far no one's ever treated her as gently as she hoped they would

And she don't hold her head up quite so high

And she finds herself longing for the innocence of times gone by.

I don't know about you, but it seems like all of my friends

Are either being hurt or they are trying to mend the hurt

Been done to them by somebody else.

And now they carry like a badge a slightly damaged image of themselves.

I got a little sister, 15 years old

And there is so very much I think she should be told,

But she won't listen; Lord knows I never did,

And that's why I got so many scars I struggle to keep hid.

Sometimes I falter, sometimes I lose.

Sometimes I get caught up wallowing in my blues.

So undecided; I hesitate and yet

Every once in awhile I just manage to forget

That I think of myself as damaged goods.

So far no one's ever treated me as gently as I wished they would

And I don't hold his head up quite that high

And I'm longing for the simple days, I wonder how they got this way,

Longing for the innocence of times gone by,

Oh, those times gone by.

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