Ben & Lily - Bambara

It was a humid summer

Of diseased mosquitoes and heat strokes

I was working on an assembly line 'til school started up

And that’s where I met Ben, yeah

«I'm a Eunuch,» Ben said

«I was in my prime when they cut me down

Yeah, they were tired of me chasing their daughters

And burning their precious mill to the ground

Yeah, they got me when I stole Mr. Beck’s Corvette

His yapping Shih Tzu riding shotgun

Yeah, I parked it in the lake and learned to swim

Then I was too worn out to run

Yeah, met Lily in the Milledgeville Asylum

They fixed her the same as me

Yeah, she’s my halfwit infertile beauty

They cut us both down like rotten trees»

«But we were blooming,» Ben said

«I broke us out and stole a ring»

Still see them when I’m sleeping

In dreams when I’m tired and alone, huh

Lily’s smiling, picking bugs off of the altar

And a rose is pinned to Ben’s blood-soaked tuxedo

Last time I saw Ben

Blood rolled down the conveyor belt

He was injured bad but still working

Swearing he’d send some guy to hell

Ben said, «I don’t mind he shot me

If I’m being honest, I deserved it

But what he did to my sweet Lily

She don’t deserve that one bit»

Looking in Ben’s eyes, I knew he meant it

Then I realized I was a coward

Next day, I heard those cheap apartments

Near the river had burned down

A few people died

And Ben was long gone

Huh, yeah

In my dreams, they watch the fire

Yeah, their twin gold teeth gleam like polished guns, huh

See them on the highway, her toes tapping on a suitcase

In a new Corvette, Ben’s aiming at the sun

Yeah

Yeah, I dream they’re on the run, yeah

Always driving towards the sun, huh

Yeah, I always dream they’re on the run

Yeah, they’re driving straight for the burning sun