the late shift was letting out

we were on the sidewalk talking and smoking

just one glance at the look of you

right then I knew it was no time for joking

you said when there's a pissing contest at the top of the heap

it's the people underneath
get the soaking

and you watched me get on my guard

as a man shuffled up with a shopping cart

he asked me for a drag and you dragged out three
for free!

I was walking home from your hotel room

you were moving on to Seattle

I was watching the rain roll in over the hills

like the haze blowing in from a battle

and would I be leading one last charge

now that I was back in the saddle?

The storm broke in middle of the bridge
and I got soaked to my last stitch

and I wondered who it was
yeah I wondered who was up on top of this pile?


on the fourth of July

they set fire to the hillside

with Roman candles and fountains

on the fourth of July

they set fire to the hillside
and pour it out with their cold ones

they’re turning smoke into vapor
such a great imitator
don't we all feel so much safer
now the fire’s gone out

we were out back in the garage
it was hot, we were tonic and ginning

I said like that ballerina silhouette
no one knows which way I am spinning

right then and there you grabbed your maul

and smashed the lawn chair to kindling

I gasped and jumped up, inspired

we ran outside and built a fire
might as well have been under my own ass
cause I stopped spinning my wheels
and I've been sprinting ever since

just trade your smokes in for vapor
it’s the ultimate flavor
and won’t you feel so much safer
once the flames are put out?