I Saw a Hippie Girl on 8th Ave - Jeffrey Lewis

I saw a hippy girl on 8th avenue

She barely looked at me for a second or two

And I suddenly realized I no longer looked much like a hippy

Mmmmm

She had a long thin dress and rainbow clothes

Not long ago I wore one of those

But now-a-days I guess I don’t dress very much like anything

Mmmmm

I had a great pair of bellbottoms, I had two

My friend borrowed one and the other I outgrew

And now to the eye I’m turning into another non-descript guy

But I still travel light and my hair is still long

I still hate deodorant and I still sing songs

But over the years I’ve noticed I’m not dressing as colourfully and psychedelic

as I used to

'Cause I wore my tye-dyes until they rotted to shreds

And I can no longer follow The Grateful Dead

And it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even identify with most Phish fans

anymore

And someday soon I know I’ll cut my hair

And a week after that I know I won’t even care

Is that what it comes to all along

Everything that you feel will one day feel wrong

I was talking to my friend Eric

Just to see what he thunk

And he said «Jeff, it’s weird

But I no longer look like a punk

I guess we don’t need our clothes for an identity crutch»

And we looked at each other and we didn’t look like much

And we looked out at the world like a movie theatre

At all the hippies and the punks and the skinheads and the skaters

And someday or other maybe sooner or later they’ll come to the realization

That what’s important is whether you can carry on a human conversation

It’s not what you wear on the outside

It’s how you think and feel on the inside