Streets are almost empty, shops are closed down
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There’s not a soul left in the bar to tell my troubles to
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Think I’ll walk down to the river that runs just south of town
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I hate like hell when there ain’t nothin’ left to do
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But stand beneath the river bridge and listen for the train
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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I broke down in December
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I headed for the coast
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I thought the wind and water would elevate my mind
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I surfaced in the springtime feelin’ like a ghost
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Missin’ more than ever the things I left behind
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Now I’m standin’ on this riverbank and still cannot explain
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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My bag is full of letters unopened and unread
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I’m sure they’d tell the story of worry and of form
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My heart is beating heavy with all we left unsaid
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I swear to you I never meant you any harm
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But sacrifice and compromise could never stand the strain
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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Tonight I’ll close my eyes again and try to see your face
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And listen for your voice to tell me it’s alright to sleep
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Convince myself I’ll wake up in another time and place
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Knowin’ all the while that it’s a promise I can’t keep
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A string of broken promises, another link of chain
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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The children on the playground, the lovers in the shade
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Remind me of a life and time that feels more like a dream
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When the sound of love and laughter was the music that we played
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As we lay beside the waters of a never ending stream
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Now the stream has gone to hiding, the dream lives on in vain
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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The clouds are building slowly on the skyline to the east
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The wind and dust are dancing like the devil across the lake
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I could try to find a bottle or try to find a priest
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Salvation won’t be traveling either road I take
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So I turn my collar to the wind that echoes this refrain
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It’s been a long hot summer, not a drop of rain
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Not a Drop of Rain
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| Robert Earl Keen |
