Lead Paint & Salt Air

One, two, three
One, two, three

Down in Asbury Park
In a sublet I'm renting
I got a new job
Where I'm out painting houses
The sun on my neck and some cash in my pocket
At least there's fresh air here
I watch families stroll by with their kids on vacation
Scrape decades of lead paint and salt air off porches
Alone with my thoughts
And a breeze off the ocean
And I smile for the first time this year

I walk alone
In the mist of the evening
Under the glow of the Paramount sign
I watch the sky turn violet with light
On the fourth of July

I've been spending my nights in a dive off the boardwalk
A sad open mic
I've been playing these damn songs
They yell out for Springsteen, or Dylan, or Mitchell
But these, these are all that I've got

I walk alone
In the mist of the evening
Under the glow of the Paramount sign
I watch the sky turn violet with light
On the fourth of July

I've picked up smoking again
'Cause I like how it makes all the days go by fast
Picked up smoking again
'Cause something's gonna kill me some day
So why not that?
I'm smoking again
'Cause I like it
Why can't I just like it?
I'm smoking again

I walk alone
In the mist of the evening
Under the glow of the Paramount sign
I watch the sky turn violet with light
On the fourth of July