I last saw my daddy south of Moab, Utah, caught in the snares of a black magic bruja. I left his bones for dust in the twilight pale, but he followed me down to Tupelo with the rest of the ghosts on the Natchez Trail. My mama lived in Corpus Christi. She used to surf with the sharks and man-o’-wars out at sea ‘till one day the monsoon came to visit Texas. The tsunami thought she looked good, had her for breakfast. Nothin’ is at all what it seems; it’s all mirages and dreams, and I’m just runnin’ lost among the smoke and steam. In search of a cause, I fell in with an orphan crew. We dug a tunnel all the way from the Bay of Fundy to Cadaloo. In celebration of our destination, I tried to shake their hands, but they disappeared just like I had feared and left me standin’ alone in No Man’s Land. Chorus Near Calico Rock, in the middle of a July night, I fell in love with a pale blue girl who said she could show me the light. She took my hand and said, “Understand, now there ain’t no goin’ back.” And that light was as big as a full fall moon before I noticed I was walkin’ on the railroad track. Nothin’ is at all what it seems; it’s all mirages and dreams, and I’m just runnin’ lost among the smoke and steam. I got a sugar cube for a soul, and I got rain most every day. Together, we sweeten the world; alone, I wash away. Together, we sweeten the world; alone, I just decay.

Life is just a breath, so breathe deep. And dreams are the only things that separate death from sleep, and you know ours don’t come cheap. You can’t hold mine, and you can’t find yours inside of me, so go on and leave. I’ll go on and grieve, and we’ll both go on, we will both go on what we believe. I’ll wait here like a Pharaoh entombed, like a sparrow for June, like a winter rose for bloom. And if I could be a stage to stand on, to deliver all your passion, or a canvas for your colors all to land on, if I could paint your eyes with music and your lips with poetry, then you’d be all that I need. I wouldn’t have to go; you wouldn’t need to leave. Lover, leave, leave me like a fever now. Come on, Eve, Adam’s just a teaser when the world’s right there. I know it don’t seem fair, but there’s more to life than love, so, lover, leave me here. The fruit is sweet; it’s forbidden as it needs to be. The sin is me, so take a bite before we sleep, and on the morn, you can take my horns, but leave your thorn in my side for safe keep. I lost my heart sometime last week, but then I saw you had it like a jawbreaker in your cheek. Heartbreaker, you look sweet with tears in your eyes. The pain keeps us young. We’re most alive right before we die. Young lady, take me to and through crazy. It’s your art that amazes me. Your freedom praises me, so go be the best at livin’ life that you can. I’ll be the best I can be at bein’ your man.

So I’ve been lookin’ at a lot of women lately, and it’s true, none of them is you. I’ve even been known to fantasize about one or two, but each one plays out like a B rated dream, a bad movie or a dime store story. ‘Cuz everybody’s chasin’ or a cheap imitation of what you already got naturally. They’re an inch you’re a mile, they’re a trickle, you’re the Nile. They’re all practicin’ fashion, babe, but you got style. So don’t give me no lo-cal, skim milk lover now. You got the butter, baby, you’re my milk and honey, and you know how to love me while the other girls fail. Five years later, you’re still fresh. Five minutes ago, they got stale. St. Gabriel dropped a letter in the mail, complainin’ to his boss about the second rate tail. God wrote to Gabe, “Here’s this jewel that I’ve saved for such a rainy day. She’s perfect in every way.” There was gold cursive inscribed on the side; Gabe read what was wrote. The clouds broke, the rain choked, and a song spilled from his throat. And do you know what that song was that chased away the rain? Yes, do you know what that word was that washed away my pain? It was your name.

Rollin’ down a freeway with my heart chained in my lover’s arms, I can’t see straight, the night’s too late and I’ve come too far. For rest, I detest anything less than an all out rush to the end, and may the best man win the worst man’s sin. Rollin’ down a side road with a pistol on the dash. A true man will kill for a lady; only sick men kill for cash. Chorus Past times and traditions I once loved now give me the creeps, like poundin’ my foot on a floor board or shakin’ my head at sleep. Like a cigarette explodin’ on concrete of a moonlit street, colossal it hit and still stayed lit. Sounds like resurrection to me. Rollin’ down a stormy sky, lookin’ god right in his evil eye, and I have to ask why I’m bein’ treated treacherously. Maybe it’s ‘cuz of those hearts I stole or my signature in the devil’s book of souls, or maybe none of this even has to do with me. Chorus The bulb is broken at the top of the stairway, but I can still see the pillow where her hair lay. The pistol is hot in my hand, and the trigger burns my fingers as the bullets get bigger. But I, the victim, the true love’s soldier, believes that innocence lies in the eyes of the be - holder. There were two hot bullets in my lady’s chamber, I’ve been shot and replaced by a stranger. Half way to heaven midway up her stairs, and now I’m haulin’ ass to hell in an electric chair. My lover sleeps soft through a cold long season, on a teetering loft of my broken love’s treason. Don’t ask me why; it must have been the lullaby I sang to her while I was freezin’.

Santa Maria, I need your blessings. Please guide my hand and my gun. You’ve seen my sweet señorita and I in deep caressing. Now if I don’t save my love, mamasita, your boy is done. I admit, she’s not in the purest of professions, but she’s got nothin’ but her body left to sell, and with your help, I was plannin’ to get her into confession and send the dirty dog that holds her straight to hell. But shhhhh, Santa Maria...... Don’t tell. The people step aside as I come down the street, they can tell by my look that I’m lookin’ for heat. My black hair’s back and there’s spurs on my feet, a six gun’s the only tongue I got that speaks. And everybody knows who I came here for: the name “Sand Man” hangs on his door. And everybody knows that I can’t afford to buy my love, so I’m stealin’ his whore. “Sand Man, come outside!” I scream, “I’m hungry for your blood. I’m finding you guilty for the crime of puttin’ a price on love. The penalty is death,” I say, “come on and beat it if you can.” The door swings wide, the children hide. Santa Maria, hold my hand! “Are you talkin’ to me?” he says, “I can’t believe your cahones, never mind the gun that your pointin’ at me, hombre´. You gotta lotta nerve, son, comin’ to serve some death warrant to the fastest gun in the desert. But never mind that now. It’s too late to go back. You’re gonna die for your angel, and there’s honor in that. Though I should probably let you know that there’s only whores here, and you’ll die anyway. Oh well, vivir es morir!” I pull my pistol quick and I let go a few loud shots. The adrenalin runs like razors and my stomach’s all in knots. I’m chokin’ on the gun smoke, and I’m tryin’ not to believe that the Sand Man’s lead is lodged inside me and there’s blood runnin’ down my sleeve. Santa Maria, I feel I’m dyin’. My soul’s as empty as my pockets. Santa Maria, is that you cryin’? I feel the world roll just like my eyes in their sockets. What’s this now? I don’t know how there’s light comin’ up behind the one that shot me down. Lift my head up off the ground to see the Sand Man turnin’ around. There’s a gun at his head, starin’ him down, held tightly in my senorita’s hand. “Tu eres el diablo. Adios, Sand Man.” CLICK BAM! Now I’m leanin’ on my girl as I stagger down the street. I never thought death was somethin’ I could ever cheat, but the bullet in my shoulder hurts every time I hold her. It reminds me of Maria and all I owe her. I am just a poor boy from north Michuacan, and now we live in Saulitas; we have both retired our guns. And the bullet near my heart forever reminds me of that day when Santa Maria shouted loud as a gun shot just to say: “LOVE SAVES!”

Come to me, Gypsy, the apocalypse is on the rise; it’s melting the ice caps and they’re flooding your eyes. The earth shakes; for God’s sake, don’t take your gaze away from mine. I’m amazed how in days such as these, you remain full of grace, so sane and so divine. Babe, I know they’re scarin’ ya, too. But don’t worry ‘cuz I’ll take care of you. This world is a heart breaker for sure. But oh, my girl, you are something that is worth breakin’ for. These are hard days, but your smiling face could end the war. The tsunami came; it took away half of Asia today. Another bomb in Baghdad broke with the wave. And all I can see are these ghosts flyin’ around me lookin’ for a way to be saved, and all I can do is love you with the power of a hundred thousand lovers that don’t get to today. On the way home today I flew through a kingdom of clouds and crystal blue, and I was awestruck at the beauty between me and you. The world below me was a sphere; it looked as smooth as an airborne tear. And then you appeared, my mind cleared, lightning flashed, and I lost all fear of this world, though it’s a heartbreaker for sure. But oh, my girl, you are something that is worth breakin’ for. These are hard days, but your smiling face could end the war.