It must have been our crooked start that chipped me out of place and that put me on a train to who knows where
But looking out the window with the weight of my disgrace
Looking for what, I didn't care
But the little town was greater and old just like Bethlehem
I said, "I'll stop right where I am"
Bellingham
And standing at the station
A stranger in the rain
She was calling out a name that wasn't mine
She grabbed me by the shoulders
And I shuddered in surprise
But she seemed to recognize me alright
And maybe I believed that she was there looking for me
And maybe I just wanted to be found
But I didn't try to clarify
No, I just let her leave
And she closed the trunk and drove me to her house
She'd been waiting for so long
She said, "Oh, I knew that you would come"
But she knows not who I am
Bellingham
The whole town dreamed of steamer fleets, the sultry August day
When the first ship cleared the Panama Canal
For the shipping lanes would mend and change their fortunes and their fates
Well, I'm glad that they can't see what I see now
For there's rubble and driftwood
Where they pulled their dimes to pay for the most majestic dock in the Pugid Sound
And when they cut the ribbon
The county brass band played
What a sad moment it seems they struck up now
No one ever could say why
But oh, the ships just passed on by
And they still don't understand
And how long did I think I could keep up the masquerade
And how much did she know it was a lie
When every bond I'd ever made, I'd broken or betrayed
What made me think that I could step into a life that wasn't mine?
I wrote a note and slipped away
It said, "Oh, I just can't explain"
But it's all been a show
Bellingham
