Sailor

Written May 2000

Tab Am/C, capo 2-3

there’s a wall on my street, and the people on the two sides never meet,
+++ runnin’ down the middle, West to East..
and there’s a hill in my town where you’ll never go unless that’s where you’re from,
+++ it’s not the choice between points A and B..
+++++ I should’ve been a sailor,
+++++ I should have run away to sea,
+++++ I could’ve been a sailor,
+++++ maybe that’s what I was supposed to be..

have you ever noticed how this tired city’s prettier at night
+++ when the colors drain into the street?..
like the greyest roses, in a photograph, they’re trapped in black and white,
+++ but we know how red they used to be..
+++++ I should’ve been a sailor,
+++++ I should have run away to sea,
+++++ I could’ve been a sailor,
+++++ maybe that’s what I was supposed to be…
+++ we watched a film about a trip around the world,
+++ that’s enough to break the heart of any boy or girl..
who should’ve been a sailor..

somewhere there are children building Viking ships just to get away from this,
+++ may they find a new world someday soon..
so they can show the rest of us, left behind to figure out this mess,
+++ how to shake a shapeless afternoon..
++++ I should’ve been a sailor,
+++++ I should have run away to sea,
+++++ I could’ve been a sailor,
+++++ maybe that’s what I was supposed to be…
+++ we watched a film about a trip around the world, (I should’ve been a sailor)
+++ we watched a film about a trip around the world…

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