RED ROSE
(Dave Alvin)
THE BLASTERS (WARNER BROTHERS, 1983)

Your father sat with the night's first drink
Your mother washed the dishes in the sink
You stood on the steps, wearing your best
One red rose on a new black dress

When we walked under the powerlines
I dreamed about it a thousand times
You weren't like the rest
One red rose on a new black dress

[Chorus]
One red rose on a new black dress
Crushing it between our chests
Tonight I'll wonder where you'll be
One dead rose is all I see

We hid in the weeds and we hid in the grass
Listening to the cars on the highway pass
Then you put me to the test
One red rose on a new black dress

[Chorus]

Then you said we could never come back
And walked awax through the housing tract
Leaving me with what's left
One red rose from a new black dress

[Chorus]

(Dedicated to the San Gabriel River Bed)