True Friends

Hi, my friends

It's the Fourth of July

Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my

First time I met your daughter, she was five

I asked her, "hey, how old are you now?"

And she said, "twenty"

I said, "Next time that much time passes, I'll be 70"

She said she's studying Russian

And going on to college in the fall in Boston

For the rest of the night, she sat there crocheting

While the rest of us were talking

And eating cherries picked from a tree

And they ate crackers, gluten free

While I ate sourdough with brie

I said "hey" to that daughter's mom

Who I first met in 2002

While she was making jewlery

And I was making Ghosts of the Great Highway

And 19 years have passed

Good things are meant to last

We've been friends through and through

Through ups and downs and various trends

Through straight roads and bumpy ones that bend

True friends

True friends

True friends

True friends

My girlfriend's at home with her cat, Leona

The cat's got small-cell lymphoma

Making us both so sad and weepy

But she had it in her to bring us cookies

Before the Fourth of July gathering

And we sat down side by side

And I looked her in her eyes

Said, "I got your back 'till the day I die"

I said, "Whatever you decide

You know I'm always on your side"

And right then, from the sky above

Landing on my fire escape

Were two spotted mourning doves

True love

True love

True love

True love

My dad's in Ohio with a bad back

Can't use his legs anymore

He needs his walker to get to the kitchen

At 87, he don't do no bitching

I said, "Dad, how do you stay so uplifting?"

He said, "'Cause I'm living on borrowed time

My brothers and sisters and friends, they all died"

He said, "But I still got you, and you're a wonderful son

You sing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' better than anyone"

I said, "Dad, I don't know about that

But I do know that you're a good dad

You hear me out when I'm distraught and sad

For you, I'm grateful, and I'm glad"

Good dads

Good dads

Good dads

Good dads

On the Fourth of July, my friend Theresa

Her kids went away with their dad to Virginia

She told me she watched a show on Netflix

Starring James Spader, called Blacklist

She talked to a friend from Ohio

A young deceased friend's little brother, Jojo

She had pasta, and drank a protein shake

Struggled with a migraine and back pain

She read Mike Lanegan's Sing Backwards and Weep

And fell asleep to the sound of fireworks

Good talks

Good talks

Good talks

Good talks

Year 2000, on the third of July

I stood next to the stage in Malmö

I watched Elliott Smith's band play live

He sang like a bird

He didn't miss a note, didn't miss a word

His guitar playing was stellar

He was a true virtuoso

And no, not just that night in Malmö

Next day in Gothenburg

On the Fourth of July

Elliott and I got to talking

He said, "Mark, I like your guitar playing"

I said, "Elliott, I like yours too"

There under a tent at the festival

Next day in Stockholm

I took off without telling him goodbye

Figured I'd see him another time

But three years later, Elliott died

Aw, but that Fourth of July

It was everything but enemies

There are only good memories

Good memories

Good memories

Good memories

Good memories