WILLA LET THE WORLD LET YOU DOWN

Will o' the wisp dance in the palm of my hand,
someday I will glow in the dark,
and some day we will glow in the darkness of youth,
keep me on in the night in that room.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

So many boys in the palm of your hand,
will none of them glow in the dark?
All of the boys in the palm of your hand,
must each of them miss every mark?

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

They will dance in your hand, they will dance as the band
plays the double-talk tunes of the lark.
How long can we play to a house full of cards,
many years we have combed this same part.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

I remember the wait as I waited to know
what everyone knows in the dark,
what ladies will do in the palm of your hand,
what everyone does in the dark.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

Count on the world to count backwards from ten,
close your eyes lean your mind on the wall.
Every brain is the stuff of a big, ticking bomb,
every heart knows its clarion call.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

Willa hang on to the roof of my mouth,
when the birdsongs get thick in the wind.
hopscotch infinity the sidewalks we chalked,
like two kittens we stalked every block.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

Carving my will in a paper tree's neck,
like a fossil I wait to be found,
and I will take my place when the whale sings his song,
and the pretty birds finely go south.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

But stick like a memory of licking your teeth,
it's been many years now since the flood.
And soon the good Lord will take the life from this shape,
like he's shaking the dust from a rug.

Who let the world let you down?
Who let the world let you down, little girl?
It was you who let the world let you down.

DAS - Washington, D.C., USA