The Waitress

She was the daughter of a waitress and a waitress she would be

Working at a diner off of Highway 43

She had the kind of childhood that cannot be erased

Growing up I guess you’d say she had a lot of space

Summer after sixth grade, the first time I saw her drunk

By the time we got to high school she’d moved on to harder stuff

I remember smoking cigarettes when smoking still seemed cool

Hiding from our parents, hanging out by someone’s pool

After graduation I suppose we just lost touch

The truth is our situations didn’t overlap that much

We knew it back then and we still know it now

We don’t know the why, but we know the how

If you’re gonna love someone, love ‘em with all that you’ve got

If you’re gonna be somebody, don’t be a person you’re not

She was a waitress who taught me to kiss

She will be missed, class is dismissed

Now go, class is dismissed, now go

She became a mix tape that only had one song

“The Joker” by Steve Miller, I could play it all night long

When she moved to California it was like it always is

Running from your problems but your problems know you hid

We knew it back then and we still know it now

We don’t know the why but we know the how

She was a waitress who taught me to kiss

She will be missed, class is dismissed

Now go, class is dismissed, now go

She moved back to two towns over from where we had grown up

And began a whole new life of prescription meds and stuff

I heard she lost the baby and I always meant to call

But I never got around to it with schedules and all

Rest easy now honey, there’s nothing more for you to do

The snakes have all loosened their grip on you

We knew it back then and we still know it now

We won’t know the why, but we’ll know the how

She was a waitress, who taught me to kiss

If heaven exists, class is dismissed

Now go, you will be missed

Go play “The Joker” over and over, over and over, over and over, go

You will be missed, now go