And my friend comes in
Seen old Barry on the wall
Said you oughta have an asterisk up there
So I painted on the wall
With the paintbrush in my hand
An asterisk but what the hell
He’s still up there

I am painting my mistakes
Underneath your soft embrace
They’re all marching to Pretoria but my dear
The Colts are on TV
And I guess we’ll have to see
How it goes, how it is
In the Christian New Year

And I have an escape route
For my life, for my time
Just one push of this button over here
New clothes, new face
New name, vanish with no trace
And a fine apartment on Cape Fear

I am painting something warm
To ride us through this storm
And the days fade and the car’s in second gear
And all the questions you been saving
For the next electric wave
Will all be answered
In the Christian New Year

Trudy Trudy Trudy
I’m still on active duty
And you know what happens when you’re AWOL
If you’re fragile you get dropped
If you’re tough they’ll help you up
But maybe though
In a little while

Every time a bird flies by
Tears well up in my eye
I can feel the rain from a couple mornings down
Out in the pasture the cow’s in heat
Someone gonna sweep her off her feet
Probably one of them bulls
Wander out here from town

I am driving to my grave
Sure as Moses was a slave
But I’m happy as long as I can steer
I am dreading the disease
But El Paso’s on its knees
And there’s still days and days
Til the Christian New Year

(lyrics: Dan Bern)