Season of Decline

Cousin Eddie driving too fast, got beer cans on the floor
Just outside of town he stops, picks up a little more
Corner coming quickly, hear the gears grind
That’s whiskey and blood in the season of decline

Package on the back porch, sent from Baltimore
It rattles when you shake it, leaves grease stains on the floor
It’s all done up with barbed wire, rope and bailing twine
Special delivery from the season of decline

55 years working from sunup until night
He says goodnight Emily, switches off the light
He once had a fraulein, left her somewhere on the Rhine
Oh but that was years before the season of decline

My sense of touch feels like its gonna leave me
The only ones who can see me are brother Ray and Stevie
My taste is gone my hearings bad I’m slowly going blind
I never felt better in the season of decline

Sitting in the forest, listen to the rain
Standing at the depot, watching the trains
Walking through the garden listen to the wind chimes
Take comfort where you find it in the season of decline

A horse walks into a bar looks around the place
Bartender says why the long face
The horse shakes his head says you’re no friend of mine
I’m just looking for a drink in the season of decline

I tell sue there might be bugs inside my head
I tell her I’ve seen snakes crawling cross my bed
She says it’s just that kind of thinking, got you in a bind
You got to take it easy in the season of decline

Some nights I go out breaking into people’s homes
I sit and watch TV, leave their stuff alone
It’s just a way to pass the day, a life a petty crime
It’s the way I’ve learned to be in the season of decline

I might go out for a walk and I might not come back
I’ll put all my things into a gunny sack
But I’ll only get as far as the county line
‘Cause I know I’ll miss life here in the season of decline