Three Drinks

She had a strange kind of presence, restrained but still wild
Someone said she’d been a star as a child
All that was left was this druggy despair
She had a ribbon on her wrist and chains in her hair
There was bloodsucker blues in the lobby at dusk
She blew smoke in my face and it felt like a bus
And the chef cut his finger off, the waiter got fired
I only took notes to try to come off inspired
She was quick on the uptake and slow on the train
The conductor roused us awake on the plains
We got off in Katonah 'cause she thought it was Spain
She handled disappointment pretty well

It takes 1 2 3 drinks and now she’s not so frightened
It takes 4 and 5 and 6 and then she’s sick
But in the hour in between, she feels holy and redeemed
Blessed and blissful, painless and serene

She had a strange kind of presence, she had blood on her lips
Someone said she’d been a star as a kid
She said she wrote stories, I’m not sure that she did
She said she wrote screenplays, I’m not sure that she did
She said she wrote novels, man, I know that she didn’t

It takes 1 2 3 drinks and now she’s not so frightened
It takes 4 and 5 and 6 and then she’s sick
But in the hour in between, she feels holy and redeemed
Blessed and blissful, painless and serene

She left the room to put on her face
I went through her purse, it was all pills and mace
She said it's so hard to choose between space and time
She mostly just smoked and drank wine
She had a strange kind of presence, restrained but still wild
Someone said she’d been a star as a child
All that was left was this druggy despair
She had a bow on her wrist and chains in her hair

It takes 1 2 3 drinks and now she’s not so frightened
It takes 4 and 5 and 6 and then she’s sick
It goes 7 8 9, for a while, I thought she died
But she was smiling when she was rolling back her eyes

I woke up at four and she wasn’t in bed
There was a fire in the kitchen and it felt like my head
She didn’t leave a note, just some cigs in the sink
I went down to the bar and I came back with three drinks

She had a strange kind of presence, restrained but still wild
Someone said she’d been a star as a child