My Clarinet

I should have stayed playing my clarinet

I could have made it

I could have made it playing big halls in an all-

Negro band

I never should have left the town that

I knew so well

San Diego can't you tell?

I could have made it playing my clarinet

I hang around people

I used to gawk at

In magazines,

I was fifteen and it all seemed so far away

I'd get my kicks from singing "Money" in an old garage

On Serenac

Street I'm tired and

I'm scared and

I want to go home again

You probably think

I'm kidding and you're probably right

I feel like the

Z in xylophone tonight

And I keep looking for an answer but

I can't put up a fight

It all seems so long ago...when

I... I should have stayed playing my clarinet

I could have made it

I could have made it playing big halls in an all-

Negro band

I should have gone to college instead of watching

TV All day in my bathrobe

I could have made it playing my clarinet

I should have made it playing my clarinet