Jim Wise

[Verse 1] Spent the day with my dad And his old friend, Jim Wise He's on house arrest And he sits around inside We brought him food from Panera Bread The snoring son rolled out of bed He talked about his '90 Corvette His warehouse job and his knee replacement [Verse 2] Jim Wise mercy-killed his wife In a hospital at her bedside Then he put the gun to his head And it jammed and he didn't die He waits trial all summer long And his eyes welled up when he told us About how much she loved the backyard garden And the budding rosebush [Refrain] She loved the garden And its budding rosebush Spent the day with my dad And his friend, Jim Wise [Verse 3] Spent the day with my dad And his old friend, Jim Wise He's got a big, thick ankle bracelet And he can't go outside He's got a long white Amishman's beard And a catheter And he'll be headed to Mansfield Prison By the end of the year, for sure His shelves are sticky, old, ratty books His albums are The Doors and Stevie Nicks His kitchen cabinets are full of baked beans His TV is silent, words flash across the screen And he stares off into dead air [Verse 4] Jim Wise killed his wife out of love for her At her bedside And then, he put the gun to his head But he failed at suicide His trial's coming up in the fall And he sighed when we stepped out and we left And I pointed out the pretty cardinal Perched on the empty birdbath [Refrain] The bright red cardinal The empty birdbath I spent today with my dad And his friend, Jim Wise