9th & Hennepin

Well it's 9th and Hennepin  

and all the donuts have Names that sound like prostitutes

and the moon's teeth marks are On the sky 

like a tarp thrown over all this  

And the broken umbrellas like 

Dead birds and the steam 

Comes out of the grill like  

the whole goddamned town is ready to blow.  

And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos  

and everyone is behaving like dogs.  

And the horses are coming down 

Violin Road And Dutch is dead on his feet  

And the rooms all smell like diesel  

and you take on the Dreams of the ones who have slept here. 

And I'm lost in the window  

I hide on the stairway I hang in the curtain I sleep in your hat 

And no one brings anything Small into a bar around here.  

They all started out with bad directions 

And the girls behind the counter has a tattooed tear,  

One for every year he's away she said, 

such A crumbling beauty, 

But there's nothing wrong with her that $100 won't fix, 

she has that razor sadness that only gets worse  

with the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by  

As the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet

Till you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin 

And you spill out Over the side to anyone who'll listen  

And I've seen it All through the yellow windows Of the evening train.