She asked me how love gets along   with me all by myself   Wonders how I keep from getting   dust upon that shelf   She wanted to know how a man like me    ends up alone, anyway   'Was I breakin' all the rules of love    and the games that people play      I said not too many hangin' round    of all the ones I meet   In time they always find that I'm on    the bitter side of sweet      She huddled on the gate on my block    where I always catch my bus   An' I hoped it wouldn't stop today,    there'd just be the two of us   But it showed up like it always does,    about twenty minutes late   I told her it'd be right along    but she said she couldn't wait   She didn't need any assistance    in putting some distance,    between us on that empty street   She was of a mind,    in record time that I'm on    the bitter side of sweet      That I act this was is really not my fault   It just means all the sweet things I've got to say   Come along with a grain of salt      (instrumental)      It's no wonder I'm not scoring points,    I'm always out of bounds   If any wise willed words convince the point,    I'm foolish by the pound   An' a fool can see no one believes    what's rollin' off my tongue   An' I've never seen a recipe    for sweet talkin' anyone   I could have written a book on    the lessons I took    in the agony of defeat   An showed you all the signs    between the lines on    the bitter side of sweet