Vienna, 1956
The girl sits alone at the bar nursing her gin
She ain't seen her family for a bit
She's from Poland or Czechoslovakia or wherever
She's got those summer eyes but her hand's starting to tremor
Don't ask why she's crying, she's lying, she knows that that
She could drink you under the table
She ain't never had a wound she couldn't lick
You want to hold her hand, but she is a stranger
She knows some years were meant to bruise
And hers just stick
Alabama, late in 1989
It's the summer of Reagan but the man is past his prime
He wonders what he did with all the time
There were no dances, romances, or second chances - he's deflated
Except for the girl in Vienna when he masqueraded
As a man of peace, then at least he would get saluted
He could drink you under the table
He spent his whole forsaken life looking for kicks
He is on borrowed time and he is disabled
He knows some years were meant to bruise
And his just stick
Flashback to Austria, 1959
The man takes the girl by the hand and commits a crime
You know these things don't work out all the time
Oh, but for this moment they own it - they will not think about tomorrow
Inside of the night is where everybody locks their sorrow
Alive in a dive bar, in Vienna
While you are under your table
You're at a time inside your life that just don't fit
It's alright to cry or drink, but don't be a traitor
You know some years were meant to bruise,
But yours won't stick