You were a song I couldn't sing
Caught like a bear by the bees with its hand in the hive
Who complains of the sting when I'm lucky I got out alive
A life at best left half behind
The taste of the honey still sweet on my tongue
And I'd run
(Lord knows I've tried)
But there's no place on Earth I can hide
From the wrong I've done
Then I saw a mountain and I saw a city
(I was once the wine)
Steadily sinking but suspiciously calm
(I was once the wine)
It wasn't an end, it wasn't a beginning
(I was once the wine)
But a ceaseless stumbling on
(And you were the wineglass)
There, strapped like a watch on my wrist
(I was once alive)
That's finished with gold but can't tell the time
(I was once alive)
Was all or what little pleasure exists
(I was once alive)
Seductively sold and uselessly mine
(When you held me)
Our horse was fast and first from the gate
With the lead of a length at the sound of the gun
And the last of our cash laid down to fate at 17 to 1
But by the final stretch in the rear of the pack
That nag limping bad in the back
We reluctantly gave all the money we'd saved
A fifth to the commonwealth and the rest to the track
Then I saw a forest grow in the city
(I was once the wine)
And a driftwood wall of birdhouse gourds
(I was once the wine)
And I'm still waiting to meet a girl like my Mom
(I was once the wine)
Who's closer to my age
The true light of my eyes is a Pearl
(I was once alive)
Equally emptied to equally shine
(I was once alive)
And all or what little joy in the world
(I was once alive)
Seemed suddenly simple and endlessly mine
(When you held me)
I was once the wine, I was once the wine
I was once the wine and you were the wineglass
I was once alive, I was once alive
I was once alive when you held me
God became the glass, all things left are emptiness
Oh, little girl, you're just a little girl
If you look out and see a trace
Of a dark red that was once my face
In the clarity of such grace, you'll forget all about me