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Cigarettes And Wine Tab

by Jason Isbell


          
Saw her in Roosevelt Springs
             
time doesn't touch anything
              
she never did say she could sing
                 
but I figured it so

I needed some company then
not sisters or children again
that's a hell of a spot to be in
but she put me in tow

Money and liquor and lust
have taken my heart and my trust
I could see ashes of dust
headed my way

She tended bar in town
her alto settled me down
so I started hanging around
didn't need much to say

               
She smelled like cigarettes and wine
            
she kept me happy all the time
                           
I know that ain't much of a line
                          
but it's the God's own truth
               
she lives down inside of me still
                 
rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
                            
she left me alone with these pills
                   
and the last of my youth

Wings on her shoulders and feet
a bar on Gethsemane street
I took time to plan retreat
backed out the door

I must be attracted to those 
who've witnessed a man in the throes
Of life that ain't grindstone to nose, 
but pedal to floor

               
She smelled like cigarettes and wine
            
she kept me happy all the time
                           
I know that ain't much of a line
                          
but it's the God's own truth
               
she lives down inside of me still
                 
rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
                            
she left me alone with these pills
                  
and my smoldering youth

Lost on the dry side of town
My memories slowing me down
She shook me and I came around
I came back to life
With nary a mother or dad
She showed me what I never had
The princess of leaves, she gets sad
'Cause I won't take a wife

               
She smelled like cigarettes and wine
            
she kept me happy all the time
                           
I know that ain't much of a line
                          
but it's the God's own truth
               
she lives down inside of me still
                 
rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
                            
she left me alone with these pills
                   
and the last of my youth