That's What You Get
D. Grady Scott Jr. Lyrics

You're browsing through A second hand bookstore And you see him In non-fiction V through why
You're at a used book store and notice a man looking at the Non-Fiction section, specifically the books that start with the letters V through Y.

She looks up From World War Two And then you catch His catching you Catching his eye
A woman standing nearby glances up from a book on World War Two and you realize the man saw you noticing him.

And you quickly turn away Your wishful stare And take a sudden interest In your shoes
Feeling embarrassed, you look away and focus on your shoes instead of continuing to stare.

If you only had the courage But you don't she turns And leaves and you both lose
You don't have the courage to talk to the man, so he ends up leaving, and a potential opportunity for both of you is lost.

And you think about The people That you never get to love It's not as if you even Have the chance
Reflecting on missed opportunities, you think about all the people you never even get the chance to love.

So many worth A second life But rarely do you get A second glance Until fate cuts In on your dance
You realize that there are so many people who would be worth a second chance, but it's rare to even get a first glance. Occasionally, fate may intervene to give you another opportunity.

And you'll see him on a train That you've just missed At a bus stop Where your bus will never stop Or in a passing Buick When you've been pulled over By a traffic cop Or you'll share an elevator Just you two And you'll rise In solemn silence To your floor Like the fool You are you get off And he leaves your life Behind a closing door
You may see him again, but always at the wrong moment - like when you just missed your train, or your bus won't stop where he is. Or you might even share an elevator, but still don't have the courage to speak. In the end, you may miss the opportunity again, realizing you're a fool for not taking the chance.

And you think about The people That you never get to love The poem you intended to begin The saddest words That anyone has ever said Are "Lord what might have been" But no one said you get to win
The thought of all the people you may never have a chance to love stays with you. You regret the missed opportunities and recognize that the saddest phrase may be, 'what might have been,' but life doesn't guarantee a win.

Still you're never gonna miss What you don't know And you don't know Who you'll meet At half past three It could be a total stranger Who looks something Just exactly much like me
Even though you regret missed chances, you won't miss anything you don't know. There's always the possibility of meeting someone new, even if it's just a stranger who looks like the man you wish you talked to.

One of the people That you never get to love One of the people That you never get to love The people That you never get to love
The song ends with a repetition of the central idea - that there may be countless people you never get the chance to love in life.