Baltimore

Never been to Baltimore
But I've seen The Wire and read Poe
[Burned?] Frost in effigy
And tried to dig Rembaud
Along the way I've been a foreigner
Nearly everywhere I go
Been known to drink all kinda wine
But never seen Bordeaux

Ulysses, he comes to me
With a bottleneck slide
Despite my genuine affinity
I've never made that thing cry

Doctor Benway, he says that life
It's never something that you own
But a man who can pick up a frying pan
Can become death's clone
I said that once to Sylvia
And she gave this morbid smile
And filled my glass up to the brim
And said, "Come sit with me a while"

This day she blooms, this day she wilts
And she's no lady by damn sight
But if she tests my sweet temperance
I might be staying there tonight

There's some things, Lord, I can't live without
Though I try and try in vain
In the absence of their memory
I'd likely amount to the same

Lately I've been busy shooting down angels
With stolen bullets from a king
Now them angels ain't nothing
But a waste of a good pair of wings
I'll take the feathers and I'll put one in my hat
For all the earthly world to see
When people ask me where I got it from
I'll grin and give one to 'em free

In time, I know I'll be called upon
And made to answer to myself
I'll look Saint Peter straight in the eye and say
"I coulda used a little help"