[JOE]

I stand on 64 in the middle of the fall

Right outside the diner from Annie Hall

Or where it used to be, anyhow

P.J. Clarke’s, I see, is what’s there now

I dream about a time many years ago

Where I could drink at McHale’s then sober up at a show

At the Hellinger or the original Helen Hayes

Back when things were better in many ways

I walk toward Lincoln Center now

Just like when I was a kid

At least we still got one thing

That looks the way it did

When life was unsafe and whoa, so hectic

And not so oh-so-antiseptic

They tell you that it’s better now

But, don’t you let ‘em fool ya

Cuz after all

It might be safer for you to walk to school

But you’ll never ever be as cool

As Raul Julia

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

(Whistle)

Cuz New York at the moment is a troubling place

I recognize its heart but can’t make sense of its face

There’s no Hawaii Kai, but there’s Applebees

And I can’t identify, with Applebees

And I think about my life in the theater and then

I think of how much easier it must have been when

People understood courage pays off in spades

When the neighborhood, was full of renegades

I’m walking up the steps now

And with each step I feel

The history and legacy

Of when the theater and the city were real

When it was unsafe and whoa, so hectic

And not so oh-so-antiseptic

They tell you that it’s better now

But, honey, let me school ya

Cuz after all

You think that you’re just where you want to be

But you will never ever be as free as Raul Julia

As Raul Julia

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

Oh, Raul Julia

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you’ll never hear me ask again

[JASON]

It’s 1976 in the middle of the fall

I’m on 64 and walk to the rehearsal hall

I’m Raul Julia

So heading to rehearsal’s what I do

I walk up the steps, I get a little chill

As I think about the neighborhood of San Juan Hill

How they knocked it down, swept it all away

To build this town, where I’ma do my play

Change is good, but at what price?

Sometimes, I’m just not sure

I know we’re better for the progress made

But I still dream of when the city was pure

When it was unsafe and oh, so hectic

Undeveloped and eclectic

Better now or better then?

How do you compare?

I see the fountain, and pride fills up my chest

But will I ever feel as Wild West

As Jose Ferrer

Heading to rehearsal in the fall?

[JOE]

Heading to rehearsal in the fall

[JOE & JASON]

It wasn’t all perfect, last I checked

I know that things look different in retrospect

And with every cause comes so many effects

Good Lord, nostalgia’s so complex

But when Jose Ferrer/Raul Julia

Was walking to rehearsal in the fall

It musta been the only good time to be alive in this city at all

[JOE]

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you’ll never hear me ask again to

[ALL]

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you’ll never hear me ask again to

Take me back to the

Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the

Way Back When

And you’ll never hear me ask again to

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you’ll never hear me ask again to

[ROB, simultaneous with above Chorus]

I’m Jose Ferrer

And I remember Lincoln Square

And the Vanderbilt

And the Hippodrome

New York is fine right now

But back then it was home

Oh

[ALL]

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

And you’ll never ever have to hear me ask again to

Take me back to the Way Back When

Cuz I know that life was better then

Take me back to the Way Back When

New York was better then