Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 29-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
In Canada
Living in a trailer across the road
from the cows you were supposed to milk
before dawn.
You don’t get home in time
and besides you’re ripped and torn.
You’re walked to the edge of the land and told,
“Never darken this doorway again.”
Kind of a killer
when when when
You cross the world’s longest covered bridge
on your father’s bike to see your girl
with another man.
You were 10 minutes late.
She gets away to tell you,
“You have a lot of pigeon shit on you.”
That’s what happens
in the longest covered bridge in the world.
Kind of a killer
when when when
You drink a half a quart of whiskey
with your bacon and your eggs
every morning.
You’re bound to take a dive
for a stainless steel sink
and someone will have to decide
at what point in flight
mid or otherwise you died.
And for that the first utterance is,
“It’s about time.”
Kind of a killer
when when when
Something a little sad when you walk the 15 miles
to your baby while your baby has her daddy’s car.
Things went missing, things got replaced
and a few people struck down the law of the land
with only a butter knife in hand.
In Canada.
“In Canada,” from Who Shot Elvis? (Matador, 1997; Smarten UP!, 2009) (download):
