I remember one young sister with rainbows in her eyes
Standing on the corner with the afternoon's supply
She spoke of other places, perhaps a better road
Then she asked if I could tell her where they kept the mother lodeLike a night this side of dying
Her days inside the dropper on the shelf
When she hears her lifeline crying
Not a thing you say can stop her
When she just can't stop herselfI remember that July, the panic and the heat
The savage shine of summer, the strychnine in the street
The way thay sold each other for a favor in glassine
The best of friends sold brothers for a dime of quinine dreamsLike a night this side of dying
Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf
Like the shelter she's been buying
Not a thing I've got can save her
When she just can't save herself
She just can't save herself