What's The Difference
by Scott McKenzie

Album: The Voice of Scott McKenzie (1967)
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  • CHAPTER I (orig recording)

    Hey friend, wake up
    I'm throwin' rocks at your windowpane
    Get out of bed, I got somethin' to say
    Pick up a toothbrush, sneak down the stairway,
    You got no reason you should stay

    Hey what's the difference if we don't come back?
    Who's gonna miss us in a year or so?
    Nobody knows us or the things we've been thinkin'
    So what's the difference if we go?

    Hey friend, wake up
    I'm throwin' rocks at your windowpane
    But don't wake your friends
    They'll prob'ly start to cry
    You leave behind all the dreams they had planned for you
    Don't worry friend, they'll know why

    What's the difference if we don't come back?
    Who's gonna miss us in a year or so?
    Nobody knows us or the things we've been thinkin'
    So what's the difference if we go?
    What's the difference if we go?
    What's the difference if we go?

    CHAPTER II (original recording)

    Hey friend, wake up
    Cant you tell you are sleeping?
    How far can you go with unopened eyes?
    Treating your mind like it was something to play with
    Youre sleeping on a featherbed of lies

    So what's the difference if you dont wake up
    You wont know yourself when you finally do
    You look into some mirror and wonder what youre looking at
    So whats the difference if you do?

    I have shared your journey from the beauty of childhood
    To uniforms of flowers that you wear like some disguise
    Till you cant hear them when the soft words are sung to you
    Youre sleeping on a featherbed of lies

    So what's the difference if you dont wake up
    You wont know yourself when you finally do
    You look into some mirror and wonder what youre looking at
    So whats the difference if you do?

    Whats the difference if you do?
    Whats the difference if you do?

    New Verse (CHAPTER III?) unrecorded

    Can't you see the two of us on the horizon
    Our silhouettes so black against the sun
    Hand in hand, no more compromisin'
    Doin' things that no one's ever done

    Hey what's the difference if we don't come back?
    Who's gonna miss us in a year or so?
    Nobody knows us for the dreams we've been dreamin'
    So what's the difference if we go?

    What's the difference if we go?
    What's the difference if we go?
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • T Carl from DenverI first heard the "B side" of "If you go to San Francisco" as I prepared to go to SE Asia. Not only did it put life in perspective, but I feel (and STILL feel) that this tune IS the definitive piece that describes the Sixties). After all, when you check out... others DO tend to think of you less and less as the years pass. ...and a special thank you to "Rayne", a young girl on an overcast day on a LA Jolla beach who gave me flowers... and said "come home safe"...
  • John Knottenbelt from Durban, South Africa.I fondly remember 'What's the Difference' from 1967, aka The Summer of Love, when I was almost 19 years old, during my period of self discovery. I related to the lyrics, as they spoke to me on a parallel of the numerous things I was 'dissecting' to ascertain the real truths amongst all the brainwashing we faced from our scholastic & religious education, let alone that which our Government was shoving down our throats. The 60s was a time of much testing the boundaries & fences built to peg us into a controlled environment. Fortunately, the lyrics of some of the songs which the more enlightened musos of our time produced, became the avenues of our education & enlightenment. At least for those of us who actually took note of the lyrics, actually writing them down (before some artists included them on the inner sections of their albums), for further ingestion & discussion with like-minded friends. Wonderful years those were, thanks to teachers & travellers such as Scott & others. Thank you for sharing your discoveries.
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