Story Behind The Song

My wife and I used to hang around Toluca Lake when we were first dating, and it's always made me feel sentimental, so I romanticized it as a good place to grow old and retire peacefully.

Lyrics

Growing old in Toluca Lake
That's where I wanna be
When life is done with me
You'll read Coleridge; I'll read Blake
Each in our easy chair
We'll make a lazy pair
Nowhere to go
Nothing to do
A pair of weary sailors at a journey's end
Sailing into port to have some time to spend
Together in Toluca Lake

Hand in hand we will stroll the town
Right down on Riverside
Where I first kissed my bride
You'll wear cranberry; I'll wear brown
We'll hit the corner bar
If we can walk that far
Nowhere to go
Nothing to do
You'll suggest we head on back and I'll agree
And when we reach the house we'll find it's time for tea
Together in Toluca Lake

We'll have our lunch at the Chinese place
Assuming it's still there
Then we'll walk home at a slower pace
And stop for coffee somewhere
We can share
A memory or two or three

Growing old in Toluca Lake
Quaffing a brew or two
Out by the barbecue
You'll eat poultry and I'll eat steak
Under a shady tree
That's how our days'll be
Nowhere to go
Nothing to do
At night we'll build a fire in the fireplace
And sit and dream together of a higher place
Eagerly awaiting all the fires left to make
Together in Toluca Lake
Together in Toluca Lake