Downstairs, they're playing Kenton
The house, set to swing
I lay in my bed and listen to everything
'Cause Leo's in rare form tonight
His trombone sings so sweet
This is the room where they all come to meet
And he said "I do what I can
I live for the moment and that's who I am
Yeah, that's who I am
And isn't it good
If we could freeze moments in time
We all would, I do what I can, I do what I can"
Downstairs, he's playing Kenton
The Magnavox sighs
But oh, how the music has changed in all of our lives
He says "nobody listens
To modern jazz
And I'll never have what those guys have"
And he said "I do what I can
I work for a living and that's who I am
Yeah, that's who I am"
And it's good to be alive
But everything's different since Leo died
"I do what I can"
Is this the end of the modern world
What could it all mean for a young girl
Who sees the pain on his face
He does what he can
The procession on the TV screen
What could it possibly mean
For a man who's come this far, just to turn around
Could there still be life in Kenton's swing
With the Kennedys gone and everything
Those sad rows of houses with their optimistic colors
Democrat grandparents and draft-dodging brothers
Riots down the street and discontented mothers
We do what we can
Downstairs, it's quiet
Less alive, somehow
Somehow, he was everything that I am now
He says "I do what I can
I work for a living and that's who I am
That's who I am"
But it's good to be alive
And these are the choices we make to survive
You do what you can
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