Lyrics She's Leaving Home - Richie Havens

She's Leaving Home

Wednesday morning at five o’clock
As the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the back door key
Stepping outside she is free
She (We gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives)
Home (We gave her everything money could buy)
She’s leaving home after living alone (Bye bye)
For so many years
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that’s lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
«Daddy, our baby’s gone»
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?
She (We never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
Home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She’s leaving home after living alone (Bye bye)
For so many years
Friday morning at nine o’clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade
She (What did we do that was wrong?)
Is having (We didn’t know it was wrong)
Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can’t buy)
Something inside that was always denied (Bye bye)
For so many years
She’s leaving home
Bye bye