It was the Senior High School yearbook

The class of '63

I'll never forget the way you gave

Your book and pen to me

It was all talked out and settled

You new I'd understand

A girl with dreams as big as yours

Just had to make some plans



So I turned to your best picture

Most Likely To Succeed

The only one in the whole damn book

That didn't show you with me

And it said that you liked inner strenth

So I tried to be true to form

And I hid my teenage broken heart

Instead I signed this poem



I hope you always drive a Cadillac

I hope you always drink champagne

I hope you always shine with the sunshine

I hope you never have to face the rain

Unless the clouds are lined with silver

May every heart you meet be gold

And may you find the world as kind as you've been told



At the ten year class reunion

They read your personal note

And displayed your cover photograph

In your full length sable coat

But the words underneath the picture

Were what mattered most to me

There was something in between the lines

That no one else could see...



It said-

I always drive a Cadillac

I always drink champagne

And if you make time while the sun shines

You never have to face the rain

I travel fast because I go alone

Everybody gets bought and sold

And I wondered if you'd really become that cold



That was the last word anyone heard from you

Until I got your card today

A single line and signature

That said "I'm coming home to stay"

I wonder what life has done to you

I wonder why you thought of me

But if you stop by to say hello

I wonder what you'll think if you see



An old ragged high school yearbook

That falls open to just one page

With a picture of a young girl's face

Full of beauty, dreams and rage

But the words underneath the picture

Is the verse that's still so true

It's the one I swore no one would read

Unless I showed it to you



I hope you always drive a Cadillac

I hope you always drink champagne

And you'll carry my heart wherever you go

Even if I never see you again

But if you bring it back home to me

Maybe then it'll mean you know

That the strongest love's the love that let's you go...



I hope you always drive a Cadillac