Classic Hollywood Ending Lyrics - Stan Ridgway

Hear the wind blow back those sycamore trees 

There's a screen test haunting my memories 

I've been driving down the boulevard, not much change 

It's the same old town, just rearranged 

But by the time our feature ended, fear still stood 

Like an old time movie, like a film from Hollywood 

Oh, my screen goes up, and my lights go down 

My picture starts but there is no sound 

The only thing I hear is a guitar play 

From a lonesome place so far away 

And I'd let you do the rewrite now, if I only could 

Like an old time movie, like a film from Hollywood 

Now when that scene starts to fade out fast 

The one where I exit, stage right 

And then we cut to the boxing match 

Inside the colosseum, with that crowd so ugly 

And by the time we see dreams disappear 

The audience has learned to cheer 

But then fashion changed that underground 

It's the same old circus with brand new clowns 

And I'm lookin' out this window now on the corner where we stood 

Like an old time movie, like a film from Hollywood 

Now I never knew how your curtain came down 

Or what was backstage in your mind 

We never played that lost reel we found 

The lights went up, and we'd run out of time 

Out of time 

And it's only when the curtain's down that the ending's understood 

Like an old time movie, like a film from Hollywood