With Alice Aforethought

I was reminded tonight of the old Smokie song, "Living Next Door to Alice."

And I wonder. 24 years he's been living next door to Alice, and yet he doesn't know why she's leaving or where she's gonna go. She's clearly got her reasons, yet he doesn't want to know.

That's not what I'd call emotional investment. I don't reckon he actually cared that much about Alice at all. He just needed an excuse to write a song.