I Read the Rain

Lyrics

[Verse 1] You found him by the freight-yard gate Rain on his coat, watch stopped at eight A brass key shining in the mud And one red thread gone dark with blood [Verse 2] I walked the block where the card men sleep Asked the night clerk what he chose to keep He said, “A woman left with a paper sack” Then turned his photograph face to the back [Chorus] I read the room, I read the rain Every small lie leaves a stain That key fit the lock beneath the stairs The truth was waiting, breathing there [Verse 3] A ledger hid behind the boiler plate Names and numbers, dates too late The dead man’s partner had signed them all Then washed his hands at the station hall [Bridge] I laid the book beneath his lamp He watched the ink run through his hands No grand confession, no last appeal Just one long look at what was real [Final Chorus] I read the room, I read the rain Every small lie leaves a stain The key, the book, the thread made clear He’d killed for money, not for fear [Outro] At dawn I left the courthouse door The rain had quit; the case was no more