Primer Coat

The old man's out by the swimming pool
He goes there to think
He talks on the phone sometimes
Hardly mentions a thing
Said he needed it for his knees
He used to swim back in school
Graduated in 84, quit drinking in 92

He used to call her a basket case for going on like she did
The only girl of a foreman's wife, she'd never let him forget
It comes to women and they survive but when the same comes to men
Someone comes for their babies, something dies there and then

Slinging gravel in parking lots and looking tough on the hood
A girl as plain as a primer coat leaves nothing misunderstood
Her mother and I through trembling lips, a steady hand on his own
The future of every rebel cause, when all the fight in him's gone

My sister's marrying in the fall and everything will be fine
Mama's planning the wedding, Daddy's planning on crying
She's slipping out of her apron strings
You best leave him be
He's staring through his own taillights and gathering speed