El Paso

Felix McTiegue - El Paso

The outskirts of El Paso are burning in the night
Like pinholes punched in paper and held up to the light
I’m dying to forget you, I roll the window down
Think about a cigarette and recognize the sound

Of the first few bars
Of ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain’
On the radio

Flashback to the summer of nineteen ninety-nine
You were off to school and I was killing time
We’d sit up on the front porch, you were playing, I would sing
We bought ‘Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits’ and learned the whole damn thing

We would pick and grin
To ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain’
As the sun hung low
You’ll never know
How much you mean to me

Van Halen’s on the radio - the old stuff ‘Diver Down’
Right before David left and Sammy came around
I listen to it three times fade across New Mexico
When I hit eject it turns on the radio

I hear the first few bars
Of ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain’
On the radio
You’ll never know
How much you mean to me

I’ve since left New York City, I’m staying in L.A.
With each new vice that I pick up, you still don’t go away
Driving drunk down Fairfax with a sunburn on one arm
I recognize the sound coming through the car alarms

I hear the first few bars
Of ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain’
On the radio
You’ll never know
How much you mean to me

Next: Sybaris.