Nanci Griffith - Back When Ted Loved Sylvia lyrics

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They both wrote poetry

In fact, that was how they met

He was a Yorkshire man in Cambridge

She was from Massachusetts

They spoke and they fell in love

They kissed and picked daffodils

She came across the ocean

Just to bid her heart goodbye

The hawk next to his goddess

They were glorious to see

Back when Ted loved Sylvia

Close friends disapproved

Said they ought to wait

They did not care with all that said

And married nonetheless

They traveled and they taught

A life of academia

Typewriters and cocktails

Angry verses and sad pleas

Dutiful wife and mother

The poet behind her man

Back when Ted loved Sylvia

The tempests that were howling

And tearing them apart

Were forces that had been in place

To wreck them from the start

So she stayed home with the kids

Collecting poems in a jar

He had his lectures and soon a mistress

And left her all alone

Why did she end it all?

Was he just to blame?

There's only two that know for sure

And neither one remain

I don't need an answer

I prefer to read between the lines

Back when Ted loved Sylvia

Back when Ted loved Sylvia