Jersey Water - A Place on Shelter Island Lyrics

So we'd talk about the weight of every passing year
Like cutting ribbons all 5th period
I remember standing in the Sam Sacristy doorway
And all our friends were here

And we'd roll up our skirts past the knee
We didn't care what Sister Carmelisa said
We were outta there in June
C'est la vie

And we defined words like apathy
And we defined words like intimacy
And walked through the halls and through the world
The only way we knew how to be

Said I could dance, I could sing
Counting 1, 2, 3
And see a blanket from my room if I tried
Ashes left unclaimed
Portraits from memory

Then after graduation we were crazy from the heat
No more shouting across the river
No more lying in the street
And the kids said
Pick up the beat, pick up the beat
Hide your sadness and tap your feet

So we'd sing sing for our supper
And pass the hat around
Oh, baby don't you leave me
Don't leave me now
I was lonely when I was lost
And just as lonely when I was found

And I could dream of you in Garden City
And I could swear by old Saint Jude
Who asked Jesus why he revealed himself to him
And not to a lover in a different room

Once I had his body
Now there's just his face
In a folder hidden on a hard drive
Frozen in a dozen shapes

And when the recession hit
We'd go out on weeknights cause we could
I met a dancer called Honey Child
She told me I'd never lose a soul
As long as I'm alive

But by the third month I spent all my combat pay
And called out to you into that Bedstuy night
And just like that, after vespers
I returned to my mistakes

And then I sold my body and my Gibson SG
Then my Hot Rod Deluxe
It was too heavy carrying it from gig to gig anyway

But there were blackberries on the hood
And on the roof of my love
Said I'll keep my hands to myself this time
There's not a star in Suffolk County
And nothing to wish for if there was

Now the ferry leaves every half hour
I said all that I had to say
I don't have a place on Shelter Island
I'm just here for the day