The Hangdogs

saint claire of cedar rapids




She plays guitar in Czechtown, open mic nights at the taverns
Sings country songs that no one's heard since forty years ago
She smiles back at the awestruck boys who stare up from the darkness
Shešll even smile some later when she tells 'em, thank you, no

She married him at twenty-four in 1987
Separated by '89
Aw, hell, she says, it wasn't really even him no more
Still she drives to Independence just to visit him some time

Saint Claire of Cedar Rapids only does what anybody would
If anybody walked this earth in angel's grace
Saint Claire of Cedar Rapids, I'd come unto you upon my knees
If only you would kiss my sins away

She walks to work alone each day down by the river
She tells herself a poem she once read or maybe wrote
They say that all the birds and bugs stop chirpin' just to listen
As if it were a song sung by an angel flying low

Works the job for the insurance, says she won't quit or divorce him
Till the state says he don't need it anymore
But some nights after just enough Old Weller she might tell you
She wonders what the hell God put her on this planet for

CHORUS
Saint Claire of Cedar Rapids, I'd come unto you upon my knees
If only you would kiss my sins away