Jackie's House

(Chapin Hartford)

I'd put a little love note in a bottle
Throw it off the Bay Street bridge
Watch it glide along among the willows
And run along the bank with the other kids.

If that bottle didn't
Hang up on the stones
It would ride that river
With a will of its own.

It'd go underground
And come up in the creek
Behind Jackie's house, Jackie's house
I'd hang around until Jackie came out.

My hands would shake
My heart would ache
I didn't know what is was
But I first felt love behind Jackie's house.

You could hear a pin drop in that parlor
It was horsechair chairs and old lace
Jackie sat beside me like a statue
The other kids were out playing kids' games.

Those funny feelings
Strange and unknown
They would rise like the river
With a will of their own.

With the risk I took
When I first stole a look
into Jackie's eyes, Jackie's eyes
I saw forever in an endless sky.

My hands would shake
My heart would ache
I didn't know what is was
But I first saw love behind Jackie's eyes.

After all this time
Jackie's heart's still mine
And the love
keeps on flowing behind, Jackie's house oh yeah.

Now our little ones they laugh and run
Down by the creek in the summer sun
Jackie and me and the years agree
We know what it is it's love and it lives here
In Jackie's house, oh, and in Jackie's eyes
Oh and in Jackie's heart and mine...