First Girl I Loved

(From the album Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary; performed by Jackson Browne with David Lindley)

First girl I loved--
Time has come I will sing the sad goodbye song
When I was seventeen, I used to know you
And I haven't seen you now in so many years
And the last time I saw you
You said you joined the Church of Jesus
But me I remember your long red hair
Falling in our faces as I kissed you

I just want you to know I just had to go
I just want you to know I just had to grow
And you're probably married now
With a house and car and all
And you turned into a grown-up female stranger
If I was lyin' by you now, I wouldn't be here at all

Well we parted so hard
Me rushing 'round New York with a guitar
Making love to people I didn't even like to see
And I still sometimes think of you
As I lay here in the sick sad morning
And in the lonely midnight
I've got to hold your face before me

I just want you to know I just had to go
I just want you to know I just had to grow
And you're probably married now
With kids and all
And you turned into a grown-up female stranger
If I was lyin' by you now, I'd just have to fall

And I never slept with you
Though we must have made love a thousand times
'Cause we were just young
Didn't have no place to go

I just want you to know I just had to go
I just want you to know I just had to grow
So its goodbye First Love
And I hope you're fine
I have a sweet woman
Maybe someday she'll have babies by me
(She pretty)
She's a true friend of mine