Poison in the Well

(music: Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant)
 Tell me what's gone wrong.
 I tilt my head there, under the faucet, but when I turn it on -- dry as paper.
 Call the neighbors.
 Who's to blame for what's going on?
 In the dark without a clue I'm just the same as you.
 O, they tell us there's poison in the well,
 that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill.
 Not a lot, no, just a drop.
 But there you are mistaken, you know you are.
 I wonder just how long they knew our well was poisoned but they let us just drink on.
 O, they tell us there's poison in the well,
 that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill.
 All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.
 Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week.
 But the week is over and now it's grown into years since I was told that I should be calm, there's nothing to fear here.
 But I drank that water for years, my wife and my children.
 Tell me, where to now, if your fight for a bearable life can be fought and lost in you backyard?
 O, don't tell us there's poison in the well,
 that someone's been a bit untidy, that there's been a small spill.
 All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.
 Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week.