At Erasmus Hall High School, we used to harmonize
Me and Benny and Ira and two Italian guys
We were singing oldies, but they were newies then
And today when I play my old 45's, I remember when...

We'd practice in a subway, in a lobby or a hall
Crowded in a doorway, singing doo wops to the wall.
And if we went to a party and they wouldn't let us sing,
We'd lock ourselves in the bathroom, and nobody could get in.

'Cause we were looking for an echo, an answer to our sound
A place to be in harmony
A place we almost found.

And the girls would gather 'round us, and our heads would really swell.
We'd sing songs by the Moonglows, the Harptones, and the Dells.
And when we sang "Sincerely," we really sang it high.
Even though it was falsetto, we almost reached the sky.

We've sung a lot of changes since 1955.
And a lot of bad arrangements we've tried to harmonize.
Now we've turned into oldies, but we were newies then.
And today when I play my old 45's, I remember when...

We were looking for an echo, an answer to our sound
A place to be in harmony
A place we almost found.