Out of Pawn - Anaïs Mitchell
Hey uncle Louie I wrote you a song
I'm glad you got your heart out of pawn
I'm glad you got your king out of check
At least that's how things stood
When I saw you last
It was New Orleans before the flood
You had just met a girl
You were falling in love
She lived on the levee
And knew the blues
And played harmonica better than you
In a neighborhood bar
In the middle of summer
Shoulder to shoulder
Setting like sister and brother
All of the sorrows you told each other
Rose like smoke from the room
The heat and the bourbon
Was in your head
You were talking in tongues
You were back from the dead
And the girl and the city
Were one and the same
And last call never came
And I can see you
Swimming out into the street
I can hear you singing
When I die don't cry for me
Hey uncle Louie the city is spinning
She sure is pretty
You sure are grinning
She's leading you home
From the heat of the bar
To lie on the levee and look at the stars
You can hold her hand
You can kiss her face
Go slow if you can
'Cause the world is a very sad place
And when she leaves
She'll leave no trace
And the world will still be there
The sky is colored in purple and yellow
And you lie on the levee with stones for pillows
And you and the girl and the city make love
With the harlequin sky
Up above
