it s been twenty seven years eisenhower was the man i was born in the springtime now i m dying in the sand i ve spent these last few days in search looking out across the sea trying to find the crucial pieces that are lost inside of me i remember way back when when mama cooked the meals papa went to work each day with me out on his heels a baseball cap a tennis ball a life of running bases forgetting every reason but recalling all the faces i remember way back when when grandpa was alive every year we d pack our things and take that lonesome drive my parents in the front seat and the three of us in the back my sister s name was linda and my brother s name was jack i remember way back when when i was still in school tried so hard to make the grades and be nobody s fool i even went to college till i had a change of heart hopped a plane for hollywood to get a second start i can t quite remember just what happened after this something bout a future and the chances that i missed i took a cab to malibu and now i m on the beach and what i need to end it all is right within my reach now i m fading far away it s been such a lonely climb and there s more that i could tell you of my life and of my times