Time and time again I tried to get back to my home town On my mind again I'm on my way back, take a look around The places I remember where my picture comes undone Such a long way back and this boy's lost track of the place where he was young. And I'm back on the street where I used to live And I passed an old friend who was holding his kid And I swear I can almost hear mamma call my name. And I'm back on the river where I was Huck Finn Just Charlie McLaughlin he always played Jim Now I know why they say you just can't go home again Yes, I know why they say you just can't go home again. My friends and I could talk the night away about where we were going Laying out our lives, we had no way of ever knowing The plans we made keep changing and people they just do the same It's a long way back and we all lose track of the faces and the names. And I stop for an ice cream at the corner drug store A double-deck cone ain't a dime anymore Have things really changed so much or is it just me ? And I asked about Tom, he ran the picture show And somebody said he died years ago Now I know why they say you just can't go home again Yes, I know why they say you just can't go home again. Such a long way back and this boy's lost track Of the places and their names. And I spoke to the bum as he sat on the ground That crazy old man he's still toasting the town For the first time in my life I understood. How the wine that had taken his worries and cares Had also taken the love he once shared Then he cried as he said I just can't go home again Now I know why they say you just can't go home again Yes, I know why they say you just can't go home again.