Looking for an Echo

At Erasmus Hall High School, we used to harmonize
Me and Benny and Aaron 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