Augie March: Farmer's Son

I didn't know you, I never knew you,
Now I'm never gonna see you again.
An acquaintance all my childhood years
I could never call you a friend.
I was afraid that I might become you,
I was afraid you might appear
As a weight upon my chest at night
And a whisper in my ear.

O the watershed I built
And wept enough that I could fill it,
So the ground beneath my feet would yield
Enough that I could heal it.
I'm gonna get it back, gonna get better,
Gonna get it fixed, gonna burn that letter,
I don't know what's coming but I'll take it,
Whatever now.

For I was born to another vocation,
I was born in another era,
I wasn't born that I should live my life
Beneath your failure and fear.
Every night the storm grew closer,
Every day the fire drew near,
When they'd meet upon this acre
And I prayed it'd up and disappear.

O the watershed I built
And wept enough that I could fill it,
So the ground beneath my feet would yield
Enough that I could heal it.
I'm gonna get it back, gonna get better,
Gonna get it fixed, gonna burn that letter,
I don't know what's coming but I'll take it,
Whatever now.

You didn't know it, you didn't see me,
As you went about your work.
I was hiding in the pantry,
I was practicing the shirk.
By the time my shoulders straightened up
And my hands were strong enough,
You couldn't lift an arm against her,
You were too ill for that kind of stuff.

O the watershed I built
And wept enough that I could fill it,
So the ground beneath my feet would yield
Enough that I could heal it.

Women don't see it when they're with the wrong fella,
Women don't see it cos you know they don't wanna
Women don't see it when they're with the wrong fella,
Women don't see it cos you know they don't wanna,
I could see it coming but I know
It doesn't matter now.