They say you taught me how to talk

Bet you wish you taught me how to stop

you're far away now, wish I could take a walk with you someplace

you explained me to our parents

English wasn't their first language

They spoke German, hated Germans

confusing times

Oh sister

down midwest backseat bumpy seats

you sang my beatles songs with me

I sang your Broadway melodies, bad harmony

and where would Willie Mays have been

without Jackie Robinson

and who can say what I'd been

without you to lead the way

after I showed some guys I could drink

You picked me of the lawn I think

And led me to the kitchen sink

Where I got rid of it

Some nights I lay awake in awe

As squinting through the dark I saw

You peeling off your teenage bra

The door slightly ajar

Oh sister

You lived just across the hall

For 18 summers, 18 falls

until you went away to that weird college in Wisconsin

and where would Willie Mays have been

without Jackie Robinson

and who can say what I'd been

without you to lead the way

trust yourself, and you can do anything

this I give to you

May your heart purr like a bumblebee

May all your backyards have a tree

May you always be HIV negative

I hope you meet some guy who

Treats women better than I do

I don't even care if he's a Jew or not

Oh sister

I remember in the temple hall

at out dear father's funeral you sang like a nightingale

one of his own songs

and where would Willie Mays have been

without Jackie Robinson

and who can say what I'd been

without you to lead the way