Wasn't It a Bit Like Now?

Silly bubbles effervesce
In the mothball smell of a beaded dress
The, 'oh, you kids', the marathons
The bathtub gin, hungover dawns

The round-framed picture, the flat straw hat
The long-nosed roadster at a mile a minute flat
The bell-bottom pants, the fine silk vest
Are all tucked away in her cedar chest

Ah, ha, ha, ah, ha, ha
Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ah, ah
Wasn't it a bit like now

Huh mom, huh dad?

Are all the memories really gone
Gone of the best darn times
I'll bet you ever had

Instead of groovy, it was mean and jeepers, it's wild
It just doesn't seem that different now
The why's are the same, it's just a question of how
Doesn't it seem a little bit like now
I pose this question to your arching brow

Huh mom, huh dad?

Cosmetic progress intensifies
The so cool look in my baby's eyes
The far-out kids, the kicks they're on
Obsolete sins, new world's dawn

Three pictures for a quarter in your carnaby hat
Jet-propelled cars on the bonneville flats
Slender legs in their paisley best
All tucked away in her mini-dress