4th Of July

you gotta have the right tools

for every job

so i invite myself in

through a hole in the fence

i am tripping through the junkyard

scanning over the piles

the thin cats raise their skin in defense

i know he's watching me

i can see him through the cracks

his eyes are small and shy on my back

he says his name is jason

he lives in the last trailer on the right

and he'll be seven

on the fourth of july

only the people who live here

know the name of this place

my path through iowa would be

hard to trace

all the adults in this town

try not to frown

when i walk by

but jason smiled at me

he met my eye

he don't ask me

where i'm from

or why i came

here alone

we all go looking for paradise

then we go back home

we cut out the small talk

go right to the way things are

he showed me his squirrel skull

i told him i locked myself out of my car

so there goes the only friend

i have in iowa

his hand flapping behind him

waving good-bye

his name is jason

he lives in the last trailer on the right

and he'll be seven

on the fourth of july