A Night This Side of Dying

I remember one young sister with rainbows in her eyes
Standing on a corner with the afternoon′s supply
She spoke of other places, perhaps a better roadThen she asked if I could tell her
Where they kept the mother load

Like a night this side of dying
Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf
When she hears her lifeline crying
Not a thing you say can stop her
When she just can′t stop herself

I remember that July, the panic and the heat
The savage shine of summer, the strychnine in the street
The way that sold each other for a favour in glassine
The best of friends sold brothers
For a dime of quinine dreams

Like a night this side of dying
Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf
Like the shelter she's been buying
Not a thing I′ve got can save her
When she just can′t save herself
She just can't save herself