///*****/// [Intro] A gymnasium in June And crepe paper on the beams [Verse 1] They put the streamers up on Thursday And the punch bowl by the stage And the whole of us in rented suits Looking older than our age And Katie wore the blue one That her mother made by hand And I had rehearsed the asking For a fortnight in advance And I got about four words out And she said yes before the rest And we stood there in the middle With my heart against my chest [Pre-Chorus] And the band played something slow And the lights went down to gold And every one of us in there Was seventeen years old [Chorus] It was the last slow dance And we did not know it then We thought it was a Friday And it was the end of everything Her hand upon my shoulder And my whole life in my hands And the future standing at the door And nobody understands It was the last slow dance [Verse 2] We went to different colleges Which is the way of it And we wrote for about a year And then we did not, bit by bit And she married someone kinder And I married someone smart And it was not a tragedy And it never broke my heart But there is a version of me somewhere Who is still out on that floor With the crepe paper and the gold light And the girl in blue before [Pre-Chorus] And I do not want her back And I would not change a thing I just want four more minutes Of not knowing anything [Chorus] It was the last slow dance And we did not know it then We thought it was a Friday And it was the end of everything Her hand upon my shoulder And my whole life in my hands And the future standing at the door And nobody understands It was the last slow dance [Verse 3] My son had his last night in May And I drove him to the door And he was terrified and beautiful And he did not want to go And I said listen to me carefully And I said it very slow I said dance the whole of every one And do not check the clock And when the last one comes around You will not know that it is So dance them all like each one is And then you will never miss [Pre-Chorus] And he looked at me like fathers Are supposed to be a bore And then he came home at two And he said thanks and shut the door [Bridge] Nobody rings a bell for it Nobody says beware The last one always looks exactly Like all the ones before So hold whoever's in your arms Like the music might not come around [Guitar Solo] [Final Chorus] It was the last slow dance And I know it now for sure It was not just a Friday It was a hinge upon a door Her hand upon my shoulder And my whole life in my hands And the future standing waiting And I am glad I did not understand It was the last slow dance [Coda] Here is to a gymnasium And a bad band and a floor Here is to a blue dress And a boy at seventeen May you get your four minutes May you get a hundred more May you never know the last one Till it is long behind the door [Outro] A gymnasium in June And crepe paper on the beams And a slow song going round And two kids in the beams
