We Were Everglades

We were Everglades, South Dade, Rivers of Grass was your favorite book
Your dad was a Green Beret, he fought in Vietnam,
It was something he never shook
He said, "You boys in that treehouse are getting much too close"
But we kept on playing with firecrackers and NoDoz

We called each other "dude" back in '85,
When that was hardly a mainstream thing
Banana seat Huffys, they go fast and loose when you're full of spring
I remember that time we got caught out on Compton's farm
That mean old cracker had a shotgun, he was out to do you harm

Mail-order M80s, Roman candles straight from Johnson Smith
Sucking on Now and Laters, daddy comes home, we start taking the 5th
Then 6th grade came on fast, with spin-the-bottle dreams
That's when Cynthia So Goth took my heart, then we lost our steam

Was living down in Ecuador when I thought I saw you on a train
We were headed down to Guayaquil, where banana trees
Define the coastal plain
You were with that Big Tall Blonde, letting me translate
The past into a vision, with red wine and methylphenidate

Promises on paper, they don't last sometimes like you want them to
Sometimes that Big Bold Blade comes crashing hot,
And it burns right through
I've written 29,000 Valentines in 39 shades of thick
And I sealed them all with a lick, cause kisses they don't stick