The Band: Too Soon Gone

Written by Jules Shear and Stan Szelest, performed by The Band
Album: Jericho, 1993

Listen:

"Too Soon Gone" is a beautiful tribute to Richard Manuel from The Band's comeback-album in the '90s, with lead vocal by Rick Danko.

Lyrics

Last night the constellations
Watched me walk at half past twelve
With some people you don't see the whole picture all at once
Like you fill in the gaps in the stars all by yourself

And who has time in this world of worries,
Drives you crazy makes you mad,
When you make the mistake just a little too late,
You're missing something now that you never knew you had.

So how do I answer these blues you say I've got
Too soon gone, too soon gone
Time makes me pay for these memories I've bought
Too soon gone, too soon gone

No one lives forever
Who would want to
But you're too soon gone, too soon gone
Too soon gone, too soon gone

Pretty soon now all this ice will melt,
And buds will get ready to break.
But every leaf that grows,
In the language that it knows,
Says that winter will return now and these trees are gonna shake.

So how do I answer these blues you say I've got?
Too soon gone, too soon gone.

Time sweeps me forward, as memory is caught.
Too soon gone, too soon gone.
Too soon gone, too soon gone.