I left a woman waiting
I met her sometime later
She said, I see your eyes are dead
What happened to you, lover?
What happened to you, my lover?
What happened to you, lover?
What happened to you?
And since she spoke the truth to me
I tried to answer truthfully
Whatever happened to my eyes
Happened to your beauty
Happened to your beauty
What happened to your beauty
Happened to me
We took ourselves to someone’s bed
And there we fell together
Quick as dogs and truly dead were we
And free as running water
Free as running water
Free as running water
Free as you and me
The way it’s got to be
The way it’s got to be, lover
The first two stanzas were taken from “Poem # 2” in his collection The Energy Of Slaves; the third was newly written for this song, which was included on Death Of A Ladies’ Man (1977). In the original poem, the protagonist tells his “faithless wife” to go to sleep. In the song, he suggests they stay awake.