Girl Next Door is a heartfelt song about the memories and reflections of days gone by and people we once knew.   The autobiographical portions of the song are that there was a popular girl my age living across the street during high school, I wasn’t on anyone’s social calendar, I grew up in a relatively small town, I dreamed of seeing the world when I was younger and I’ve actually visited the places mentioned in the song. It’s easy to view life from a sort of “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” mentality – looking at other people’s lives from a distance and wishing we had what they have – but we can never really know the truth about anyone’s situation from observation alone.  What we see as idyllic from afar, may actually be an entirely different experience when viewed from within. Popularity doesn’t always equate to happiness and sometimes “quiet and steady” wins the race over the course of time – for life is not a sprint, but a marathon – and in many respects it’s all about the finish… “I wonder where she is, After all these years have gone by, She was the girl next door, And I was just the guy, Livin’ in the house beside her, So many years ago…”

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I recorded my original song “Girl Next Door” on Set 5 in 1996, and it’s autobiographical in nature as a popular girl my age lived across the street when we were in high school, we lived in a small town, I wasn’t on anyone’s social calendar growing up and I’ve visited the places mentioned in the song. Enjoy! ♡ 🙂 Mark

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(Emailed versions of these songs lose their chord alignment and formatting, so refer to the original post and/or the scanned lyric sheet as your guide!)

Girl Next Door

“Turn Up The Volume”, Collected Works Volume V, Copyright 1991, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved

Verse One:

D                              A

She was the girl next door

      G                                 D

And I was just the neighbor kid

D                              A

She was the one that everybody loved

      G                             D

And I never seemed to fit in

         A

Every weekend she had a party

      G                                      D

And kids would come from miles around

          A

It was invitation only

      G                     D

And mine was never found

         A

Every time she had a party

G               D

I was never around

Verse Two:

D                     A

Those were the days so long ago

         G                D

When I was just a kid

D                              A

She went her way and I went mine

G               D

And I never did

A

Know where her life had taken her

G                      D

Over all of these years

A

Livin’ her life in the fast lane

G                    D

Everything was hers

      A

She had everything she wanted

G                                      D

Everything she wanted was hers

Verse Three:

     D                    A

We lived in a small town

        G                            D

And I went out to see the world

D                   A

Places I’d only read about

      G                       D

And never dreamed I would

A

Walk the streets of Paris

G                D

London and Berlin

A

Amsterdam and Switzerland

G                      D

Monte Carlo and Madrid

         A

Copenhagen and Barcelona

         G                               D

Never knew the world was so big

Verse Four:

  D                         A

I wonder where she is

        G                                   D

After all these years have gone by

D                             A

She was the girl next door

      G                   D

And I was just the guy

A

Livin’ in the house beside her

     G               D

So many years ago

A

She went her way and I went mine

        G                           D

And I guess that I’ll never know

A

She was the girl that lived next door

      G                   A           D

And I was just the neighbor kid