Notes
The lyrics are taken directly from a walk I took one day near my work. As I walked, I hummed tunes into my phone and came up with stanzas based on what I saw and heard. It’s interesting to me that the lines about the church with the closed doors and the woman digging in the trash are in the same verse. These events happened literally a block from each other.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Old men sitting on the porch now
Swings are blowing in the breeze
In the air, there’s sweet, sweet music
Playing up among the trees
Interlude
A million tiny little crosses
Shatter with the smallest stone
Another day, another dollar
Another way to lose your home
Chorus
It’s the way we walk
It’s the way we talk
It’s the way we pray for more than what we got
And we bury the bones
Of the things that we own
Until we find ourselves back home…
On 2nd Street
Verse 2
Church’s doors are locked and bolted
And no one’s praying in the halls
No one’s drinking, no one’s smoking
But no one’s caring much at all
Woman digging in the trash now
Just can’t look me in the eye
The devil’s lips are painted red, child
Wonder when I’m gonna die
Chorus
Instrumental Interlude
Verse 3
Old men sitting on the porch now
Swings are blowing in the breeze
In the air, there’s sweet, sweet music
Playing up among the trees