Etta's Tune

What's the temperature, darlin'?

A hundred or more

Horses pawing at the dust

Violets wilting by the door

But you pour your strongest coffee

And I'll take the battered wheel

We'll drive straight down the river road

Spread a blanket on the hill

What's the temperature, darlin'?

Now don't stare into the past

There was nothing we could change or fix

It was never gonna last

Now don't stare into those photos

Don't analyze my eyes

We're just a mile or two from Memphis

And the rhythm of our lives

A mile or two from Memphis

And I must go away

I tore up all the highways

Now there's nothing left to say

A mile or two from Memphis

And I finally made it home

There were days you paced the kitchen

There were nights that felt like jail

When the phone rang in the dead of night, you would always throw my bail

No you never touched the whiskey and you never took the pills

I traveled for a million miles while you were standing still

What's the temperature, darlin'?

As the daylight fades away

I'll make one last rehearsal

With one foot in the grave

We kept the house on old Nokomis

We kept the polished bass guitar

We kept the tickets and the reels of tape to remember who we are

A mile or two from Memphis

And I must go away

I tore up all the highways

Now there's nothing left to say

A mile or two from Memphis

And I finally made it home

What's the temperature, darlin'?