“If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again”

If I ever get to Saginaw again
A locale that’s somewhat off the beaten track
Get to see the girl I never saw again
Who must know why I have never ventured back
We were young and so alive
And now I wonder if she’d cling to me
Become my very own as she did then
If I ever get to Saginaw again

If I ever get to Saginaw again
It won’t be in spring with meadows turnin’ green
It won’t be to tangle with the law again
And it won’t be with someone only seventeen
Who gave her love and made me hers
And when you find the one you’re dreaming of
Who thinks to ask, “How old is love?” not “When?”
You may never get to Saginaw again

If I ever get to Saginaw again
I will get to see the son who bears my name
And perhaps I’ll quietly withdraw again
When I see the little man that he became
And how I yearn to watch him grow
A father’s love is maybe all it takes
To not repeat those sad mistakes of men
If I ever get to Saginaw again