Primer Coat

[Written by Mike Cooley] The old man's out by the swimming pool He goes there to think He talks on the phone sometimes Hardly mentions a thing Says 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 fighting is gone My sister's marrying in the fall And everything will be fine Cause 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 tail lights And gathering speed