Until Now

"Yes, I know I drink too much", he says

"But it's under control

I've never picked a fight with a stranger

I've had no accidents on the road

It doesn't interfere with my work

It eases the strain

I make more money than I ever did

No one has ever complained"

Until Now

And I wonder just what your motivation is

Until Now

I never thought of you as one who'd meddle in my business

He is not my boyfriend

He's not related to me

I have known him for a long, long time

I'm worried by what I see

There's a nervous edginess that

Only drinking smoothes

When I question him about this, he says

"What are you tryin' to prove?"

Until Now

I have thought of you as the non-judgemental type

Now I see you've been reading too many magazines

Believeing all that self-help hype

He's the life of the party

He's everybody's pal

He used to act like he liked me

Until Now

Now we're waiting for the axe to fall

The phone call that shatters the night

Or maybe he will surprise us all

Wake up one day and see the light

So I'm standing in the shadows

With open eyes and closed mouth

Knowing every day that passes

He's farther away from drying out

Until Now

I was able to look the other way

Until Now

I could pretend that what I thought didn't matter anyway