Well, you met her there on a New York City stair   You were throwing up on your shoes   Tryin' to write the great book when it really had you shook   With a bad case of wintertime blues       So you drag her down to the ragged side of town   She had a taxi to carry her home   Then she left her handkerchief there beside you on the seat   As if to emphasize that you were all alone       It smelled like springtime and you were just a boy   And all the lilacs in Ohio   All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go.   In the city streets and the dirty winter snow       All the lilacs in Ohio - hio.   Well, she's the love story you speak of   When you talk to Sam at the bar   But it's in the details your story often fails       Yeah, close, but no cigar   And you might see your own ass in a double whiskey glass   But you'll never erase her smile   And you'll never write it down, never find her in this town       Of phantom dreams and fingernail files   It was springtime, and you were just a boy   And all the lilacs in Ohio   All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go       In city streets and the dirty winter snow   All the lilacs in Ohio - hio   So you pin her handkerchief to your clean white linen sheets   And you unmake your bed, crawl in       You imagine her there and you're tangled in her hair   And she smells like flowers again   And it's springtime, and you were just a boy   All the lilacs in Ohio       All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go   In the city streets and the dirty winter snow   All the lilacs in Ohio - hio