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Not What You See Lyrics

Artist: Barry Manilow
Album: Here At the Mayflower

Wait a minute baby
I'll be right back
I just gotta talk
to a friend
for a couple of minutes

I see you looking
at the two of us
and what do you see
the oldest couple at the Mayflower
Esther and Me

I push her in the chair
I know she'd walk
if she could
she says "Take your pills"
as if they do any good

I'll bet you think
that what you're looking
at is all we are
two old people forgetting
the way we were
Sonny, no one is
what they look like
everyone's so much more
Sonny, no one is
what they look like
and we're not what
you see that's for sure

You should have known her before
you should have known her before
legs she had legs
that made the guys drool
and her waist was as small
as your neck
and the face and the hair
and the rest of her
and when I look at her now
I still see her young and beautiful
she's my girl and I'm her Joe
and we're not what you see

In a minute baby I'll be right back
I just got some more to say
to my young new friend here

Esther just turned 80 and I'm 83
the oldest couple at the Mayflower
Esther and me
I knew that when I saw her
we were meant to be one
she says she didn't notice me
but don't you believe her

I'll bet you think that what you're looking at
is all we are
two old people
stumbling through the days

Sonny, no one is what
they look like
everyone's so much more
Sonny, no one is what
they look like
and we're not what you see
that's for sure

You should have known me before
you should have known me before
hair, I had hair the girls
loved to feel and a built
watch out Joe Poluka
I could see I could hear
I could run a mile
and when I dream of us now
I still see us young and beautiful
she's my girl and I'm her Joe
and we're not what you see

I guess I better go now
she's my family
the oldest couple
at the Mayflower
Esther and Me
I'll help her with her bath
and then I'll kiss her goodnight
and sometime's we dance
in the early moonlight

I'll bet you think that what
you're looking at is all we are
two old people
watching the days go by
Sonny, no one is what
they look like
everyone's so much more
Sonny no one is what
they look like
and we're not what you see
that's for sure

I'll be right there darlin'

Comments/Interpretations

by Johnnie on 6/19/2010 8:23pm
One of the finest, most poignant lyrics of any Manilow song. I came across it while in search of the lyrics to "You're Runnin' Too Hard," an added song to the re-release of "If I Should Love Again." I cannot understand them all from just listening to the recording. Oh...and it's "build" not "built" up above.