That Song About The Midway

(album: Portrait Of An American Girl - 2005)

Well I met you on a midway at a fair last year
And you stood out like a ruby in a black man's ear
You were playing on the horses, you were playing on the guitar strings
You were playing like a devil wearing wings

Wearing wings you looked so grand, wearing wings
Do you tape them to your shoulders just to sing?
Can you fly? I heard you can, can you fly?
Like an eagle doing your hunting from the sky?

I followed with the sideshows to another town
And I found you in a trailer on the camping grounds
You were betting on some lover, you were shaking up the dice
And I thought I saw you cheating once or twice

Once or twice, I heard you did, once or twice
Were you wondering, was the gamble worth the price?
Pack it in, I heard you did, pack it in
Was it hard to fold a hand you knew could win?

So lately you've been hiding, it was somewhere in the news
And I'm still at these races with my ticket stubs and my blues
And a voice calls out the numbers and it sometimes mentions mine
And I feel like I've been working overtime

Overtime, I've lost my fire, overtime
Always playing one more hand for one more dime
Slowing down, I'm getting tired, slowing down
And I envy you the valley that you've found
'Cause I'm midway down the midway, slowing down, down, down