[[Verse 1] Found a future by the stairs Between the food court and thin air We talked like time was ours to spend Like every road would meet again You pointed somewhere past the glass Said where we'd live and what we'd have I don't remember every word Just how completely I believed [Pre-Chorus] Now the escalators don't move And the fountain's running dry I can picture where you stood there Without even closing my eyes [Chorus] Way back when Way back when We planned forever there and then A little place, a life together All those things we'd do whenever Way back when You were standing next to me We could see our whole lives coming Like they couldn't help but be Now I'm walking where we stood Through everything that might have been I can almost see us there Way back when [Soaring Expressive Violin Response] [Verse 2] The old arcade is boarded over Someone took the letters down There's an outline where the sign was And our footsteps make the only sound I pass the place we used to sit Two drinks between us, killing time You drew our years out on a napkin House and all, like it was settled I wonder where that napkin went I wonder when we stopped believing There must have been a final time We left here without knowing we were leaving [Pre-Chorus] Now the storefronts stare back empty At a hallway washed in gray I can see you by the railing In the jacket that you wore [Chorus] Way back when Way back when We planned forever there and then A little place, a life together All those things we'd do whenever Way back when You were standing next to me We could see our whole lives coming Like they couldn't help but be Now I'm walking where we stood Through everything that might have been I can almost see us there Way back when [Memory Break] For a second all the lights are on I hear the crowded food court hum You're laughing somewhere up ahead And I forget what year I'm in [Long Expressive Violin Solo – Nostalgic, Slowly Intensifying] [Bridge] I won't decide what it all meant Just because I know the end I won't make those younger versions Foolish for believing it We meant it underneath these lights That's enough to make it true There was once a future waiting here And I was going there with you [Instrumental Rise – Violin and Dreamlike Guitars] [Final Chorus] Way back when Way back when We planned forever there and then A little place, a life together All those things we'd do whenever Way back when You were standing next to me We could see our whole lives coming Like they couldn't help but be Now the lights are mostly gone And neither one of us moved in But I can still remember us Way back when [Extended Emotional Violin Outro] [Outro – Soft] Found a future by the stairs Between the food court and thin air I left it there.
