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Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Looking back at sunsets on the East side
We lost track of the time
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things sat by so carelessly
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
And someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
On the same streets that I did
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Oh no, oh no no no
Oh no, oh no no no
Change your ways while you're young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Looking back at sunsets on the East side
We lost track of the time
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things sat by so carelessly
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
And someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
On the same streets that I did
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Oh no, oh no no no
Oh no, oh no no no
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I think the line Smile Like You Mean It is sung ironically, he's not really happy but he's smiling to tell himself and the world he is.
Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand
[Basically, he's telling her to enjoy her frivolous lifestyle while she can, the boy she is betrothed to will someday be a man, and he'll help her understand life. Her arranged husband is actually a really great guy and the singer is aware that his love for her is unrealistic because her family will never accept him.]
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
[The chorus is his advice to her to make the best of this marriage because she doesn't have a choice.]
Looking back at sunsets on the East side
We lost track of the time
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things sat by so carelessly
[He talks about how he feels like they didn't have enough time together]
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
And someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
On the same streets that I did
[here I imagine him picturing his life changing without her, he moves so she doesn't have to see him]
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Oh no, oh no no no
Oh no, oh no no no
Of course it's about memories, but to me, it seems to be more about looking to the future, or about the "circle of life" if you want to call it that. In the first verse, the singer thinks about the different responsibilities he'll have when he gets older. In the second verse, he regrets the time he wasted in his past not preparing for the future. Finally, in the third verse, he seems to acknowledge that everyone makes the mistakes (in the second verse) that HE made in his youth, and everyone will have to grow up, change, and live with them. The chorus- "Smile like you mean it"- seems like something the singer says to himself to realize everyone has to face these responsibilities and deal with these faults, so he may as well not take too much pity on himself.