Black Willow - Dick Valentine

Thin skin gets you nothing but love sore

You can wipe yourself clean

But you’ll mess up like before

Strut in my direction and let me

Slip into your clothes

And I saw as she undressed

Tattooed on her breast

A black willow

I took her number from the back of a newspaper

Next to the obituaries

I knew that I might need it later

The wicked rain poured hard upon the lane

Where no roses only thorns grow

Said won’t you wring the tears out

Of my coat black willow

She said «Taste the poison but don’t finish your drink yet»

She tied me up then she went out for cigarettes

Why must we suffer for love

Why must we love to suffer

Maybe friction makes the flame

It’s why we die to tame each other

Cheap talkers don’t make the phone ring

And heavy sleepers don’t break the bed springs

Interventions of the flesh where our bodies depress

As she crawled into the window

For the curtains they were drawn

In the morning she was gone black willow

And so the story goes

Until the bitter end

Two shots of bourbon and I’m back on the road again

Where does the man begin

Where does the animal end

Will I ever know

I think about it everyday

And I try to get away black willow