I Came Around

(album: Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon - 2012)

Cars lined up the street
A procession for the thief
The men were restless and the women howled
As they professed their grief

A smoke was lying on his lips
And in his hand a rusty flask
Even in death he'd forced a smile
I oughta give him his dues for going out like that

When you've walked through the valley
Saw the face of death
And you've paid your debts
Well then, is there anything left
Is there anything left
When you've settled up
Is there anything left

I came to pay a false courtesy
So you couldn't get the best of me
But the grief hung in the air and mingled with the sweat
I presumed to know your inner workings, but I just guessed

I never thought much about the man
He was always just drifting along
But a couple hours in
We were drunk as sin
I was wrong, I was wrong about him
I came around, I came around, I came around

I took you for a hanger-on
But the way those folks all wept
You must've been doing something right
To move the company you kept

The drinks kept coming and I loosed my tongue
And I talked a little shit
But your friends just laughed and chimed right in
Telling yarns so good it made me quit

I never thought much about the man
He was always just drifting along
But a couple hours in
We were drunk as sin
I was wrong, I was wrong about him
I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around

The room started reeling
I got the feeling I read you wrong
Then another bottle of gin
Break out the bar brawl again
You were the reason for them

By the time the sun was at its feet
Everybody there was pissed
And I can say with some degree of certainty
The old bastard will be missed
I thought your life was nothing more than one long grift
Now I sit weeping by your coffin
Clutching a bottle in my fist

I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around
I came around, I came around, I came around