Little Coloured Balloons

Up above the moon

And underneath the gun

Far away from Mississippi

All the buttons come undone

A hornet's nest inside my brain

Rattlin' like a submachine

Saran wrap and little coloured balloons

A black nickel, a needle and a spoon

You say this is ain't what I am

This is what I do to warn your ghost away

I know you don't believe in magic

Well, nobody does, anymore

This uniform is stiflin'

It's hotter than the heat

That's smotherin' my shoulders

And burnin' up my feet

Every word under review

But the jury's guilty, too

Saran wrap and little coloured balloons

A black nickel, a needle and a spoon

You say this is ain't what I am

Well, this is what I do to warn your ghost away

I know you don't believe in magic

Well, nobody does, not anymore

I watch the waves roll in

And roll out just the same

Like a song and dance

It's the oldest of his games

I shut my eyes, but through these tears

A mean old world reappears

Saran wrap and little coloured balloons

A black nickel, a needle and a spoon

You tell me this is ain't what I am

Well, this is what I do to warn your ghost away

I know you don't believe in magic

Well, nobody does, anymore

Why try and tell you

When you don't give a fuck?

You don't believe in magic

You don't believe in luck

There is no right, there is no wrong

Same damn chorus, same damn song

Saran wrap and little coloured balloons

A black nickel, a needle and a spoon

You say this is ain't what I am

Well, baby, this is what I do to warn your ghost away

I know you don't believe in magic

Well, nobody does, anymore

I held my hands out

Blood-stained and I got my doubts

I tried to wash it off

Yeah, I tried to wash it off

Red as southern clay

Blood-red as Mississippi clay

And yes, it still remains

Goddammit it! It still remains

Where is Pilate's water?

Tell me, where is Pilate's water?

Nightmares in daylight

I'm stealin' the birthright

Off 16th and Mission

Off 16th and Mission

I took an ambulance ride

They said I should've died

Right there on 16th and Mission

On 16th and Mission

I still miss you so much

I still miss you so, so goddamn much

On 16th and Mission

I'm right here on

On 16th and Mission

Sing it

They called us from the hospital in Jackson

And told us that you'd arrived there

That we could come and pick you up

And we popped in our car and we were so excited

And happy and drove to Jackson

And your father, that normally follows on the road

Parked in handicapped parking place

We went into the hospital, we got into the nursery

The nurses were all lined up, looking us over, making sure that we were okay

That we were gonna take good care of you, because they took good care of you

For five days, five days

So, my mother had met us in Jackson and she was going back to Tupelo with us

And you were her first grandchild, so she was just excited anyway

And on the way home, I sat in the backseat with you

To get you comfortable, so I just spread her clothes there on the seat

And put you down there, and you took a good nap on the way home

And we got home and that night, you cried in the night

And all three of us, my mother and your father and I got up

And met each other in the doorway, we couldn't get through the doorway, so

We all had to take turns going in to check on you

We were, we were so excited to have you there, our son