The Hold Steady - Stevie Nix lyrics

You came into the party with
A long black shawl
And the guys from the front lawn were
Making jokes about the white swan
Some nights we just need to get touched
And rub up against something plush
Some nights it's just a crush
Yeah, and some nights it's blood lust

She said we might use you later on
Meet me right back here around dawn

You came into the ER drinking
Gin from a jam jar
And the nurse is making jokes about the
ER being like an after bar
You know you're weak and effete and
I'm coming up from the streets

You're up in your loft getting soft
And I'm coming up the stairs and


I'm coming from the streets
She said I love the guys you can't trust
Meet me here about dusk

I was half dead then I got born again
I got lost in all the lights
But it was okay in the end
And when we hit the twin cities
I didn't know that much about it
I knew Mary Tyler Moore
And I knew Profane Existence

I was keyed up
Our keys jangled in the stalls
They counted money in the motels
They mostly sold it in the malls
And the carpet at the Thunderbird
Has a burn for every cowboy
That got fenced in

She said you remind me of Rod
Stewart when he was young
You've got passion and you
Think that you're sexy
And all the punks think that you're dumb
The guys around the lockers got a
Story about the stomach pump
And the guys behind the theater
Found a body in the garbage dump

She got screwed up by religion
She got screwed by soccer players
She got high for the first time at the camps
Down by the banks of the Mississippi River
Lord, to be seventeen forever

And she got confused about the truth
And she came to in a confession
She got high for the last time in the
Camps down by the banks of the river
Lord, to be thirty-three forever

And she got screwed up by her vision
It was scary when she saw him
She didn't tell a single
Person about the camps
On the banks of the Mississippi River
Lord, to be seventeen forever

She got strung out on the scene
And she got scared when it got druggy
The way the whispers bit like fangs in
The last hour of the party
Lord, to be thirty-three forever