From way back here on the bandstand
She looked like a goddess in the lights
At some point in the set she'd turn her face and glance my way most nights
I'd take a little solo, I'd play for her, she'd smile, return the favor
I'd make the sweetest love to her with every semiquaver

"There's a sadness in your playing," she said
"That penetrates my bones
Something in your intonation, something in your tone
Always understated, never overblown
My name for you is Sad Trombone
Yes, my name for you is Sad Trombone."

It seemed like she'd found the secret key to my soul
And gathered up my broken life and somehow made me whole
We'd share a room together, my band mates were all green
And they warned me 'bout some story in a movie they'd all seen

"There's a sadness in your playing," she said
"That penetrates my bones
Something in your intonation, something in your tone
Always understated, never overblown
My name for you is Sad Trombone
Yes, my name for you is Sad Trombone."

Now when the light goes out and the music stops and the curtains close
That's when your heartbeat race
Sadness on your face, and you can't take no more
I see you searching for your smile
We haven't seen that in a while
Now when the light goes out and the music stops and the curtains close
That's Sad Trombone

We never made much money, the ticket counts were light
We'd count the bars until we reached some hotel for the night
She was my morning coffee, the butter on my toast
'Til she got a better offer from some outfit on the coast

Oh, there's a sadness in my playing now
A desperate cry, a moan
Something in my choice of notes
Something in my tone
Sliding to the deepest bass from a lonely baritone
I guess I'll always be the Sad Trombone
I guess I'll always be the Sad Trombone

It's an old, old story, and one you've probably heard
You start out in a major key, then you're down a minor third
Aimlessly sliding, sinking like a stone
It doesn't get no deeper, than the scraps that you've been thrown
But some things they just stay with you, long after they have flown
And it always comes back down…to the bone
And it always comes back down…to the bone
Down to the bone
Down to the bone