Down to the Water

Three o'clock at night when it all went down,

All he saw was lights and the bedroom spinning 'round;

There was a crash and she hit the wall

Then no one heard very much at all--

A stray cat crying and the TV down the hall.

Fourteen blocks up north was where the word went through,

They rolled the stretcher forth and the lights were flashing blue;

An hour later and the rain came down

Soft as sleep on the darkened town,

On a Greyhound bus he watched without a sound.

Six months back were the golden sands and a penthouse suite,

She had diamonds on her hands and followers at her feet;

Chinese astrology and tarot decks

And a thousand friends saying her time was next

All trying to see what the broken glass reflects.

Fortune will smile and fortune will aid but a chosen few,

She felt the rainbows fade and every hope fall through;

She hit the town on a hot cheek spree

One last taste of celebrity,

She packed her things left a note for all to see.

     And she was going down to the water,

     Going down today,

     She was going down to the water,

     She just had to get away.

     She was going down to the water,

     If she passed you on the way,

     She was going down to the water

     To wash the past away.

The sun came up in a misty glow pushing through the hills,

He tried to count the miles to go on to Jacksonville;

Back in the city in the hours since

Just idle rumours and some fingerprints,

Movie magazines, three months unpaid rent.

And ain't it just like love to leave such emptiness,

And ain't it just like love to leave you such distress;

He smelled the sea breeze blowing everywhere

He closed his eyes he was almost there

The cypress trees, the birds wheeling in the air.

     And he was going down to the water,

     Going down today,

     He was going down to the water,

     He just had to get away.

     He was going down to the water,

     If he passed you on the way,

     He was going down to the water

     To wash the past away.