Story Behind The Song

When I first moved to LA, I got a ride to work with a coworker who told me that Deanna Durbin had allegedly once lived in his apartment in Hancock Park. That always intrigued me, so I thought I'd write a song about someone who might have been there with Deanna back in the day.

Lyrics

She rises from the steam of her bath
Like a swan through the morning mist
The way she puts her lipstick on you'd never know
It's forty years since those lips have been kissed

A cigarette holder in her manicured hand
A towel wraps her hair like a turban
She closes her eyes and remembers the days
She'd have her coffee with Deanna Durbin

SO LONG AGO
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?
SHE'D SERVE THE MADELEINES
DEANNA'D POUR THE CREAM
BENEATH THE EUCALYPTUS WHILE THE SUMMER SKY GREW DARK
THEY'D TALK ABOUT EACH NEIGHBOR AND JUST WHO WOULD MAKE HIS MARK
EVERYONE WHO MATTERED LIVED RIGHT THERE IN HANCOCK PARK
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?

She dozes for awhile, sees them lounging in the sun
With Cary Grant or maybe Monty Clift
When she wakes with a start by the dried up pool
She wonders how long she's been adrift

She putters on the patio, strikes a quick pose
You never know who could be dropping by
Fixes herself a tall Manhattan
Then she adds an extra shot of rye

SO LONG AGO
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?
SHE'D SERVE THE MADELEINES
DEANNA'D POUR THE CREAM
WHEN THE WORLD WAS SOFT AND SIMPLE LIKE THE DISTANT MORNING DOVES
WHEN MANNERS REALLY MATTERED AND THE WOMEN ALL WORE GLOVES
WHEN PRIVATE LIVES WERE PRIVATE AND SO WERE SECRET LOVES
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?




She dries the evening dishes, retires to her room
To watch an old film in black and white
If she's lucky enough, she'll catch some old friends
As she settles down into the long night

Slips between sheets that have seen better sleep
Pours herself a spot of bourbon
On the flickering screen they haven't aged a single day
Since her coffees with Deanna Durbin

SO LONG AGO
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?
SHE'D SERVE THE MADELEINES
DEANNA'D POUR THE CREAM
SHE'D ASK ABOUT HER DAILIES AND THE ACTORS ON THE SET
OR WHO WAS WHO IN HOLLYWOOD AND WHOM SHE HADN'T MET
DEANNA TOLD HER, "DARLING, THESE ARE TIMES WE SHAN'T FORGET..."
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?
OR WAS IT JUST A DREAM?