Dad never started drinking Â'til he was thirty-five
And once he found the power
He made up for his lost time

Go outside and catch a cricket, then unplug the phone
Said their singing kept him company
When weÂ'd leave him alone


Those were days of feeling awkward,
Being seventeen and such

Hoping I could find some comfort
In a deaconÂ's daughterÂ's touch
IÂ'd spend time out in the desert

Feeling lonely with a friend
And weÂ'd talk about leaving
But it was years before we did


Oh the time moves slow
And you canÂ't go where you want to go

But, oh the time slips away
Day after day, day after day
Day after day


Well I found myself a genie
Said sheÂ's grant a wish for me

And all I had to do was love her
Endlessly
So I asked my dad about it and he said

Son, lifeÂ's a game we play
So I closed my eyes, held her and said
Take me away


LetÂ's live in a lighthouse on the Maritime shore
And weÂ'll hang a wreath to loneliness

Upon our lighthouse door
But we never made the ocean, she never followed through
She said the day she left

You know, I really thought you knew

Well I went back home to see my dad

And I walked through the door
To his photographs of Hank and Johnny
Lying on the floor

Hank had a hole shot through his mouth
And Johnny in the head
There were crickets in hallway

And Dad awake in bed

He was sitting in the darkness

With just a cigarette light
Said he went a little crazy
Sometime in the night

I never asked him about the pictures
Though it was clear to me
He shot Â'em for the life

And the man he wouldnÂ't be