Steve Earle - Quicksilver Daydreams Of (Maria) (Maria) lyrics

A diamonds fades quickly when matched
To the face of Maria all the harps
They sound empty when she lifts
Her lips to the sky
The brown of her skin makes her
Hair seem a soft golden rainfall
That spills from the mountains to the
Bottomless depths of her eyes

Well, she stands all around me
Her hands slowly sifting the sunshine
All the laughter that lingers down deep
'neath her smiling is free
Well, it spins and it twirls like
A hummingbird lost in the morning
And caresses the south wind and
Silently sails to the sea

The sculptor stands stricken, the painter
He throws down his brushes
When her image comes dancing, the sun
She turns sullen with shame
And the birds, they go silent
The wind stops his sad, mournful singing
When the trees of the forest start
Gently to whispering her name
So as softly she wanders
I'll desperately follow her footsteps
And I'll chase after shadows that offer
A trace of her sight
Ah, they promise eternally that she
Lays hidden within them
But, I find they've deceived me and
Sadly I bid them goodbye

So the serpent slides softly away
With these moments of laughter
And the old washer woman has
Finished her cleaning and gone
But the bamboo hangs heavy in
The bondage of quicksilver daydreams
And a lonely child longingly looks
For a place to belong