Jennifer got ready for the high school jamboree
Angel had a brand new suit but no philosophy
Together they sang love songs in voices pure and clear
Songs to the innocence of the Eisenhower years

But with Jimmy Dean and Kerouac Angel came of age
Only Jenny noticed he was going through a change
His outrage was a whisper that only she could hear
Lost in the Eisenhower years

South and west he traveled soaked in memories and rain
Jenny wrote him letters he answered every day
But while her letters told of happiness Angel’s life got worse
Geography would soon become his blessing and his curse

Because he fell in with some grifters who were living on the run
Angel he was sure his life had finally begun
He was welcomed like a brother but in the end reduced to tears
Goodbye to the innocence of the Eisenhower years

Angel never wrote to Jennifer again
The California desert ran dry as Angel’s pen

But sometimes he thinks back to that girl who lived next door
And the memory of the love songs they sang in ‘54
The melody still lingers but it’s mostly disappeared
Along with the innocence of the Eisenhower years
Farewell to the Eisenhower years