Etta's Tune

What's the temperature, darlin'? A hundred or more Horses pawing at the dust Violets wilting by the door But you pour your strongest coffee And I'll take the battered wheel We'll drive straight down the river road Spread a blanket on the hill What's the temperature, darlin'? Now don't stare into the past There was nothing we could change or fix It was never gonna last Now don't stare into those photos Don't analyze my eyes We're just a mile or two from Memphis And the rhythm of our lives A mile or two from Memphis And I must go away I tore up all the highways Now there's nothing left to say A mile or two from Memphis And I finally made it home There were days you paced the kitchen There were nights that felt like jail When the phone rang in the dead of night, you would always throw my bail No you never touched the whiskey and you never took the pills I traveled for a million miles while you were standing still What's the temperature, darlin'? As the daylight fades away I'll make one last rehearsal With one foot in the grave We kept the house on old Nokomis We kept the polished bass guitar We kept the tickets and the reels of tape to remember who we are A mile or two from Memphis And I must go away I tore up all the highways Now there's nothing left to say A mile or two from Memphis And I finally made it home What's the temperature, darlin'?