qualities of mercy
lyrics by Penelope Houston/ music by P. Houston and P. Johnson


Saw a leaf fall and I wanted to catch it
but I'm lying face down on a Daily Californian
Hair spread out in a halo of gold
Humming a tune, it's the song of the charlatan
Hear the glass break and the trickle of whiskey
Take me along I'm the life of the party
Day after day I hear my promises fade
Giving lip service to the mercy of my friends

And all the boys they tell me how they're going to love me
And all my girlfriends they say, "you're so lucky"
But what I'm really needing, in this golden country
can you explain to me the qualities of mercy?

Old man sleeping with a beer in his hand
Worked so hard but he's got no one to bury him
Built alot of fences in his fence building days
Never built a bridge but he's crossing over anyway
Baby, take a stick, draw a circle around me
One to protect me from the times I want to fly away
Don't need a bridge 'cause I'm already sailing
sailing on the ferry cross the mercy of my friends

And all the boys they tell me how they're going to love me
And all my girlfriends they say, "you're so lucky"
But what I'm really needing, in this golden country
can you explain to me the qualities of mercy?

It's good enough, it's good enough to know
the falling tears make a cradle in the snow
It's good enough, it's good enough to hold
that summer's long as the winters day's cold
Saw a leaf fall and I wanted to catch it
but I'm lying face down on a Daily Californian
Hair spread out in a halo of gold
Giving lip service to the mercy of my friends
And all the boys they tell me how they're going to love me
And all my girlfriends they say, "you're so lucky"
But what I'm really needing, in this golden country
can you explain to me the qualities of mercy?

From the eighteen stories down CD, the whole world LP/CD, and the cut you LP/CD

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