There is a middle-aged woman dragging her feet She carries baskets of clothes to a laundromat While the Mexican children kick rocks into the street And they laugh in a language I don't understand But I love them Why do I love them So the neighborhood is dimming as I smoke on the porch And watch the people as they pass enclosed inside their cars And on their faces just anger or disappointment I start wishing there was something I could offer them A consolation what could I offer them When they are sad in their suburbs robots water the lawn And everything they touch gets dusted spotless So they start to believe that they haven't touched anything at all While the cars in the driveway only multiply They are lost in their houses I have heard them sing in the shower And making speeches to their sister on the telephone Saying You come home Darling you come here Don't stay so far away from me This weather has me wanting love more tangible Something I can hold because it's getting cold So lets hold up our fists to the flame in the sky To block out the light that is reaching for our eyes Because it would blind us It will blind us Now I have locked my actions in the grooves of routine So I may never be free of this apathy But I wait for a letter that is coming to me She sends me pictures of the ocean in an envelope So there still is hope Yes I can be healed There is someone looking for what I concealed in my secret drawer In my pockets deep You will find the reasons that I can't sleep and you will still want me But will you still want me Well I say come for the week You can sleep in my bed And then pass through my life like a dream through my head It will be easy I will make it easy But all I have for the moment is a song to pass the time A melody to keep me from worrying Oh some simple progression to keep my fingers busy And some words that are sure to come back to me and they will be laughing My mediocrity My mediocrity