16 Days

For sixteen days, I've stayed in this bedroom

And this Indian Summer, It's made me sick

I don't use the phone, I don't write no letters

All I can do is lay here and sweat

And this wretched house, It falls down around me

The air has turned foul, the walls have turned brown

And they rot in the glow of a single light bulb

Once there was paint, now there's just dust

And I don't know why I'm kept a prisoner here

But there's no fear in these eyes

And I don't know why no one talks to me

But it's so clear when you try ...

She had grace, and a natural beauty

She was a girl raised on a farm

A constant source of disappointment

To both of her folks, and they don't know why

'Cause she had a love for a life she suspected

Lay somewhere else, beyond these crops

But she couldn't speak, and they wouldn't listen

So her dreams lay fallow and hope turned to dust

And I don't know why I'm kept a prisoner here

But there's no fear in these eyes

And I don't know why no one talks to me

But it's so clear when you try ...

We sit in the yard, on broken-down loungers

Tryin' to grill food on a rusted out grill

Drinkin' a beer and burnin' our fingers

Watching the dog pee on the car

And the trees all look sick now and the grass has turned brown

And the bird bath's broken, and the fence fallen down

And the gate, it hangs crooked on rusted out hinges

And the heat never leaves when the sun sinks down

And once we had meaning, but now, we're just hollow

Once we felt pain, but now we're just numb

Once there were words, but now there's just glances

And once we were smart but now we're just dumb ...

just dumb

And I don't know why I'm kept a prisoner here

But there's no fear in these eyes

And I don't know why no one talks to me

But it's so clear when you try ...