New Mexico (Late-Night Piano Version)

From the heart-wrenched sweet nothings
Between two distant lovers
To the dying of the cruelty of war
Oh, the sad news and the love songs
Are passed along these phone poles
That stretch forever
Like the lines of a Hemingway story

And they stretch along this highway
Like so many martyrs
Hung and burned for loving
Shedding light on Caesar’s gardens
And they’re passing on a message sent from you
To us here in New Mexico

Well the old man at the red light
Was selling homeless papers
And our windows kept the awkward silence in
We kept our eyes ahead
And then we quickly changed the subject
And our hearts broke even more
With our own hardness

Because Mark had asked
If we should invite him along for dinner
And we hemmed and hawed
‘Til green faded into our Scarlet Letter
And I know no martyrs died to pass that on
To us here in New Mexico

Well the might is raining from the clouds
That hang above this city
And all I want is just to be alone
Unless that girl I’m praying for
Is here in Albuquerque
Unless you came to raise
The quick and dead

Then we’ll step out of this river
Of the Father, Ghost, and Son
Where we’ve waded in your innocence
Cause all of ours was gone
And we’ll lift our eyes to see
A new light dawn
On the beauty of New Mexico