A Night This Side Of Dying

I remember one young sister with rainbows in her eyes
 Standing on a corner with the afternoon's supply
 She spoke of other places, perhaps a better road
 Then she asked if I could tell her
 Where they kept the mother load
 Like a night this side of dying
 Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf
 When she hears her lifeline crying
 Not a thing you say can stop her
 When she just can't stop herself
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 I remember that July, the panic and the heat
 The savage shine of summer, the strychnine in the street
 The way that sold each other for a favour in glassine
 The best of friends sold brothers
 For a dime of quinine dreams
 Like a night this side of dying
 Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf
 Like the shelter she's been buying
 Not a thing I've got can save her
 When she just can't save herself
 She just can't save herself