Craig Finn - Curtis & Shepard Lyrics

Shepard's where we want him
He's staying off of Cedar
He's shacked up with some princess
With a fish tank and a fever
Her daddy is a doctor
He sends them decent checks
He said he's sorry that he didn't have more time

Sometimes when they sail off, she forgets to feed the fish
And they float up to the top to drift in the abyss
She removes the ones not moving with a sacred slotted spoon
Drops them in the ashtray and she sighs and pretty soon she says

"We should probably make a wish now"
And they wish for new inventions
To make this life more easy
'Cause lately it's been hard

Curtis moved with purpose
But he wouldn't say what it was
He does something with the hubcaps
And the Independent trucks
Skates some empty warehouse and waits around for lunch
When they get in touch, he starts to really hustle

It's a tricky little business, it's hard to thread that needle
To build a clear consensus with independent people
He's always had the feeling that he'd never see the ocean
He'd be more apt to negotiate, if the window wasn't closing

And he dreams of sweeping vistas
And machines that clean the streets
And he wishes it was easy
And he's sorry that he didn't have more time

Shepard's where we left him
The princess got recalled
To Phoenix by her father
Who's in talks to cut her off
Shepard wants to go somewhere with a little better weather
But he didn't have time to pull it all together

Curtis is all business as he sits and cleans the pistol
A decade spent in limbo waiting on the whistle
All the years they built up prisons from decisions that we've made
He's coming up on Riverside like he's off to the crusades

When Curtis kicks the door in
Then Shepard's on his knees
And Curtis says, "I'm sorry
That we didn't have more time

What went down in '89
And again in '93
You did things in this city
This city's still not happy

Remember in the garden
In 1997?"
And Curtis pulls the trigger
Now Shepard can't remember