

M A L I N W A G N O N M U S I C
SUFFERING
The night that you were suffering across the room from me
Tried to find you but it was too dark for me to see
When I looked into your eyes darkness was there too
And after months of wondering all at once I knew
The summer of my seventh year they tore the old home down
Razed the pines and muscadines and burned it to the ground
I’d take off my socks and shoes beside the new road there
And walk the burning pavement for as long as I could bear
O when I was a child
I was not much of a child
O when I was a child
I was not much of a child
You might not believe it but I see you now and then
In passing cars and markets and the arms of other men
Laughing like I saw you laugh a thousand times before
When nothing’s really funny but you can’t cry anymore
​
Summers come and go a little faster every year
I’ve put more behind me now that I will see appear
And I’ve forgotten more than there is left for me to learn
But I’m not likely to forget your promise to return
O when I was a child
I was not much of a child
O when I was a child
I was not much of a child
Last night as I lay suffering I saw you plain as day
I asked you to stop a while, you said you could not stay
And as I looked into your eyes you said I should come too
And after years of wondering all at once I knew