She lifts his jacket from the floor
He left it lying there once more
Then he said, "Goodnight, turn out the light,
Be sure you lock the door."

It makes her wonder if she should
Just walk out that door for good
Leave him all alone, she's always known
He never understood

You lose the things you take for granted
That's the way it goes

Every day for thirty years
He gave his blood, his sweat, his tears
To a company that felt that he was
Just one of the gears

When he left no one could do
All the things that he used to
Had to compromise, and realize
What he already knew

You lose the things you take for granted
That's the way it goes

He was a rising star in school
A handsome face, a playful fool
Didn't need to try - no reason why
He loved to play it cool

Many years of self neglect
His perfect body now a wreck
To himself he lies, with empty cries
"I still have self respect"

You lose the things you take for granted
That's the way it goes

Credits:

Todd Evans - Vocal, Guitar, Engineer, Producer
Adolfo Lazo - Drums
William Maxwell - Bass

The Way It Goes began as a guitar rhythm that I wrote while working at The Plant, a recording studio in Sausalito, CA. The riff features some snappy pull-offs and stuck in my head for weeks so I knew it was plenty catchy.

The first verse came to me pretty much all at once. I hit a mental block at that point as I tried to figure out what the song was about and where to take it from there. After I hammered out the chorus I knew what the song was trying to say but it took me a couple of years to finish the lyric as I tried to decide what else to take for granted.

I like that contradiction between the upbeat sound and the rather dark tone of the lyric, it's something I learned listening to Morrisey and The Smiths.