Epitaph

bad luck just weaves through the city,
but it's keeping away from us
we move at a crawl through the traffic
and water street is humming along
with me and cecilia singing
and banging on the dashboard in time,
we sing the words on her father's gravestone
and he's there in the humid light...singing:

don't let the bastards grind you down

good luck's in town for the weekend
so we stumble around until dawn
daylight just melts through the narrows
and those morning birds are humming along
with me and cecilia singing
and stamping on the asphalt to prove
we are the children of strength and of vigor
we were born in the morning blue...singing:

don't let the bastards grind you down

when you're all, 'Jesus Murphy'
and 'Ave Maria'
and 'send me the courage'
and 'let me be delivered'
cause there's devils among us
there's devils living among us
some have not got their teeth up
and some are ashes and near-dust
and they're riding the freeways
and they're locking their front door at dusk
and they're raising their families
and they're raising their fingers at us
but this is a good town
this here is a heavy ancient thing
this is a new land
this here is a thing they'll never see
when they're all 'Jesus Murphy'
and 'Ave Maria'
and 'send me the courage'
and 'let me be delivered'
but
don't let the bastards grind you down

bad luck just weaves through the city
but it's keeping away from us.