[Opening Verse] Claire had been saying it for years One month somewhere by the sea Not a weekend, not a holiday Long enough to learn the streets There was always something in the way A deadline, somebody else's plans Then in March she put a key And an address in my hand "You coming?" I said, "When?" She smiled, "Tomorrow." [Refrain] One month That's all she asked for One window facing west One table by the water And nowhere else to be One month After twenty years of someday Funny how a life can change When you finally pick a date [Verse] The house was smaller than the pictures The blue door wouldn't close The kitchen had three decent glasses And a radio from God knows when We bought tomatoes at the market Coffee from the place downstairs By the fourth day they knew her name By the seventh, nobody cared What she did Where she'd been When she'd leave Who she came there with [Turn] I stayed a week She stayed the month For once That was the point [Saxophone and Fretless Bass Interlude] [Verse] I called her on a Tuesday morning She was barefoot on the balcony Said she'd missed two meetings back at home And somehow both survived without her She'd learned the baker's daughter's name Found a book she'd never read Burned her shoulders in the afternoon And slept until ten Then she said, "I thought this would feel irresponsible." I asked, "Does it?" She laughed. "No." [Climb] All those years She had the money She had the time She had the key The only thing she never had Was a date on the calendar She couldn't move For somebody else's emergency [Final Refrain] One month That's all she asked for One window facing west One table by the water And nowhere else to be One month After twenty years of someday Turns out dreams don't always need courage Sometimes They need a reservation And a train leaving at three [Outro] On the last morning She gave the key back Then asked the landlord, "Is September free?"
