The Penny in the Fountain

Lyrics

[Intro]


[Verse 1]
The air in here is canned and cool, hums a steady, endless drone.
Fluorescent suns bleach the color from the fake italian stone.
A mother pulls her daughter's hand, says we have to go now, hon.
But the girl hangs back, her eyes are fixed where the cloudy water runs.
She digs inside a pocket, past the lint and a movie stub.
Pulls out a single penny, worn smooth from a thousand rubs.

[Chorus]
It's the most universal tax, the one you volunteer to pay.
For a moment's-worth of hoping at the closing of the day.
A copper-bottomed ledger for the things you can't afford.
A silent, sunken offering to a non-existent lord.
And the water just gets heavier with every little dream.
Underneath the Muzak and the distant, muffled scream.

[Verse 2]

That one there, the darker one, pre-1982.
Pure copper, for a love that would be true.
This one next to it, mostly zinc and thin.
A prayer for a father to just let somebody in.
A wish for a job, for the fever to break, for the car to just start one more time.
Every single one a secret, every one a perfect crime against despair.

[Bridge]
On Tuesday mornings, early, before the steel gates rise,
A man comes with a wet-vac and he averts his eyes.
He sucks the wishes from the floor, a pound of tarnished hope.
Says the money goes to charity, helps other people cope.
But the wishing part is over, it gets counted, bagged, and rolled.
A story with no ending that will never be retold.

[Outro]

But the pump keeps on humming.
And another one plinks down.
The smallest bit of currency in this whole sleeping town.