You were a song I couldn't sing
Caught like a bear by the bees
With its hand in a hive
Who complains of the sting
When I'm lucky I got out alive!

A life at best left half-behind
The taste of the honey
Still sweet on my tongue
And I'd run (Lord knows I've tried)
But there's no place on Earth
I can hide from the wrong I've done

Then I saw a mountain and I saw a city
(I was once the wine)
Steadily sinking but suspiciously calm
(I was once the wine)
It wasn't an end, it wasn't a beginning
(I was once the wine)
But a ceaseless stumbling on
(And you were the wine glass)

There, strapped like a watch on my wrist
(I was once alive)
That’s finished with gold but can’t tell time
(I was once alive)
Was all or what little pleasure exists
(I was once alive)
Seductively sold and uselessly mine
(When you held me)
Our horse was fast and first from the gate
With the lead of a length at the sound of the gun
And the last of our cash laid down to fate (at 17 to 1)
But by the final stretch in the rear of the pack
That nag limping bad in the back
We reluctantly gave all the money we’d saved
A fifth to the commonwealth and the rest to the track!

Then I saw a forest grow in the city
(I was once the wine)
And a driftwood wall of birdhouse gourds
(I was once the wine)
And I'm still waiting to meet a girl like my mom
(I was once the wine)
(who's closer to my age)
(I was once the wine)

The true light of my eyes is a Pearl
(I was once alive)
Equally emptied to equally shine
(I was once alive)
And all or what little joy in the world
(I was once alive)
Seemed suddenly simple and endlessly mine
(When you held me)
I was once the wine
I was once the wine
I was once the wine
And you were the wineglass

I was once alive
I was once alive
I was once alive
When you held me

But God became the glass
All things left are emptiness
Oh, little girl...
You're just a little girl
If you look out and see a trace
Of a dark bed was once my face
In the clarity of such grace
Forget all about me