Sugar Water

All night long we drank sugar water
Trying to keep the heat at bay
I was poor, she was a poor man's daughter
But we weren't too poor to play
We couldn't buy wine, we couldn't buy beer
Even Drag Donald's mash was a little too dear
So we just laid back with that sugar water
And we let the night roll on

It was late July, dry as a bone
Dust laying heavy on the fields
She'd sneak out of her unhappy home
And meet me by the water mill
She'd steal a little sugar, I'd bring a little cup
And when the sun went down we'd stir it all up
Yeah we just laid back with that sugar water
And we let the night roll on

She's taking down her hair, slipping off her shoes
She's dancing to the rhythm of the midnight blues
The sugar and the sweat, trailing down her skin
You know it hit me harder than bath-tub gin – all right

Time goes by, the world moves on
Age comes creeping up behind
The creek's been dammed, the water mill's gone
Ain't nobody pays the slightest mind
That poor man's daughter is a rich man's wife
She danced away from me into a whole other life
But I just keep tasting that sugar water
When we let the night roll on

She's taking down her hair, slipping off her shoes
She's dancing to the rhythm of the midnight blues
The sugar and the sweat, trailing down her skin
You know it hit me harder than bath-tub gin – all right