Bill Morrissey Follow

Man From Out of Town – Bill Morrissey

The house burnt down on a rainy night and I never did find out why
I just stood alone ‘neath the silver maple – trying to keep my cigarettes dry
Waiting for the fireman I couldn’t save a thing
And deep within my home above the roar of the flames – I thought I heard a telephone ring
The rain let up and we worked till dawn – just me and the fireman
And when they cut the power the line went dead and I never got called again
The house was gone by the break of dawn, the air was cold and grey
I just set off down the road alone – seems it’s always gone that way

So young, so long ago, I thought I heard a train
Calling out my name – well it sounded like my name
Just a boy with no direction – I left my home behind
And the sky changed colours once I crossed that town line
My good friends did the best they could to hold me down with them
But I took one look, I packed my bags and I slipped around the bend
The lessons came from left and right – the first night out I found
All the laws were not made to protect the man from out of town

There was a cold town on the seacoast I once tried to call home
And the church steeples rose up above that town like broken bones
Drinking whiskey with a catholic priest one night in the rectory hall
He just closed his eyes and said, ‘you never know when Jesus calls’
Then his eyes got wide and he looked around and he just could not explain
Was like he heard the sound of Jesus laugh, the way I heard that train

Now the years and the faces blurs till I can’t remember some
There were women washing windows, there were salesgirls chewing gum
There were voices in the shapes of old men kneeling in the pews
There are things in this life a man just does not get to choose
Finally I found a home in a tiny mountain town
A simple place to keep me dry when the rains came pouring down
A place to sleep, the rent was cheap, brick walls and a new slate roof
The landlord said, ‘You’ll be safe here, this house is fireproof