He Said He Wouldn't

I watched him from across the room The same way I used to watch him in Paris When he still believed a man could keep his word And a city could stay standing He told that girl the same thing he tells everyone “I stick my neck out for nobody” Voice flat as the desert after midnight Eyes already somewhere else I knew that voice I invented that voice The night I left him standing in the rain Then the wheel started turning And I saw his hand move Not toward me Toward two people who will never know his name Chorus: He said he wouldn’t He said the war took that part of him He said Casablanca made him practical But I watched him cheat the night For a couple who still think luck is kind And I remembered The man who once bought me flowers In a city that doesn’t exist anymore He never looked at me while he did it That’s how I knew it was real If he had wanted credit He would have glanced my way Instead he just nodded at the croupier Like it was nothing Like saving two lives Was just another drink he didn’t finish Bridge: I used to think the letters of transit Were the only thing that mattered in this town I was wrong The thing that matters Is the second a cynical man Forgets the speech he wrote for himself Final chorus: He said he wouldn’t He said nobody gets out clean Then he gave them the night And went back to his glass I sat there with the song still in my throat Knowing I was watching The only version of him That ever belonged to me Play it, Sam Not “As Time Goes By” Play the one he doesn’t know I heard The one where he still has a heart And pretends he lost it In a place called Casablanca.