Neil Bartram - I Didn't See Alvin lyrics

(ALVIN addresses a gathering at the chapel.) {ALVIN} Thank you all for coming. We're gathered to honor the memory of my father, Gordon Kelby {THOMAS} I snuck into the gallery of the chapel to watch him - to watch him try to do what I've devoted years of my life to doing! {ALVIN} Let me tell you a story about my father {THOMAS} Look at him standing there! Look at him - comfortable, confident, smug, telling story after story after story after goddamn story about his father! (He listens for some time.) And they were good They were so... good Look at him (THOMAS examines this memory of ALVIN more closely.) I didn't see that tear on his coat I didn't see the way that his hands were shaking The way the words got caught in his throat The way he'd fixed his hair I didn't see the way the platform made him look so tall No, I didn't see Alvin at all I didn't see that I was the fraud Or notice it was Al who was born the artist I took the bows while he would applaud I hardly saw him there Turns out it was Alvin who inspired me every day But I didn't see Alvin that way Yes, he was always there Offering so much He was constant and dependable like stone I didn't stop to see what else I'd lost When we gradually lost touch But look up from your page, Tom! Look up from your page You're alone I didn't see... (ALVIN steps out of the past and observes him.) I didn't see the end of the road I'd set my vision firmly towards the future Burying the debt that I owed To Alvin and my past I didn't see the sand slip through my fingers way back then And I didn't see Alvin Again (Silence.) {ALVIN} "The End". A story about Alvin Kelby {THOMAS} I'm done with stories, Al {ALVIN} Have you finished my eulogy? {THOMAS} No {ALVIN} Then you're not done (THOMAS begins to tidy up the papers that are strewn about the space.) "The End", a story about Alvin Kelby. That's the one you're looking for, right? How did a kid who once thought a bu*terfly could melt the polar ice caps end up in a frozen river on Christmas Eve - and more importantly, what did it have to do with you? (pause) You'll never know, Tom You'll never know