Better Than Before

Better Than Before - Alice Ripley

The memories are there

Somewhere

Find some pictures you can share

Keepsakes of the life that's

There behind her

Keep it light at first that's best

Careful that she's not distressed

When the time's right

Tell the rest

Remind her

You'll find her

So let's start with something small

Something personal and pretty

I bet you'll know these shiny things

They must be tacky trinkets from I guess atlantic city

No actu'ly di

They're our wedding rings

It's going well

Here's a flower from our wedding

You were such a sight to see

And the ceremony everything we'd hoped

Um dad

Well that's how I remember it

So that's how it'll be

It was raining

It was portland

You eloped

I mean portland

It's an open book to write here

It's a life we can restore

We can get back what we had

And maybe more

Maybe get us back to better

Than before

Here's the year we drove the west

We hit the highway in the honda

And I took pictures

Everywhere we went

We saw the painted desert

The grand canyon

And aunt rhonda

And nat learned what

Her middle finger meant

Here's the first house that we owned

On walton way we loved that place

Then we built this one on land

That we both chose

And here's a pic of all of us

With smiles on ev'ry face

And the photoshopping

Hardly even shows

We're standing by a lake

With all theses ducks

And who's this little chubby girl

That's natalie

This sucks

Gonna get us back to normal

Gonna get us back to good

Gonna get back what we had

And maybe more

Gonna get us back to good times

And forget the things we should

Gonna get us back to better than before

We can get things back to better than before

All right fine

Here's the headline in the paper

When you freaked out at the market

Here's the house on walton way

After the fire

Natalie

Here's the damage to the honda

When you showed me how to park it

Did we crush somebody's cat beneath the tire

Yes ours

Here's dad at my recital

And we're wond'ring where you are

I remember this

I made it to the school

Wait you remember

It was the year of too much lithium

I hid out in the car

Yes

And your swim meet

Just last year

I'm in the pool

So you are

You're getting it

You've got it di

Hooray

Your life has kind of sucked

I think

You got it yay

Hooray hooray hooray

Gonna get back what I lost there

Gonna find out who I was

Gonna open up the gates and let it pour

And if mem'ry makes things better

Well mem'ry always does

Gonna get us back to better than before

Make ev'rything much better than before

Won't anything be

Better than before

I guess is must be

Better than before

Better than before