Jenee Halstead: Listen

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

We drove to the edge of town
Ditched the car, jumped the wall and headed east
Runnin’ to the county line
With the cops coming close behind
Through knee-high fields of wheat
A couple of common thieves
Stole a car on a hot Midwest summers eve
What ensued that night, like a horrible dream
To this day it haunts me

And the darkest day I have ever seen
Was the one that came with that dawn
And you went rushing back
To the world where you came from

Earlier on that night
Driving down 99
With the top back breaking free
We were drunk and high
Passed a cop doing 95
So blown we didn’t see
By the time the chase was underway,
One had turned to three
You met my eye, patted your .45
Said, “they ain’t never gonna get me”

And the darkest day I have ever seen
Was the one that came with that dawn
And you went rushing back
To the world where you came from

We got ahead of the heat
Left the car there on the street
Took off on foot with a plan
Run to the other state, hide out for a couple of days
‘Til things settled down
But up ahead those flashing lights, so bright, a line of men
Surrounded on all sides
You cried, “I won’t do the time”
“I ain’t never goin’ back to that place again

And the darkest day I have ever seen
Was the one that came with that dawn

You told me to get down, to stay to the ground
As you pulled the gun from your side
“Drop the weapon” they yelled
But you took aim and held
Lost in your own pride
And a shot rang out that pierced the air
The death knell called you free
Sky broke the night, sun started to rise
As I watched you fall to your knees

And the darkest day I have ever seen
Was the one that came with that dawn
And you went rushing with open arms
To the world where you came from