Ben's My Friend

I woke up this morning, August, 3rd
It's been a pretty slow and uneventful summer
Went to visit a friend in Santa Fe
Went to New Orleans and went to see my family

Woke up this morning and it occurred
I needed one more track to finish up the record
I was feeling out of fuel and uninspired
Laid in my bed too long, a little down, a little tired

I met my girl and we walked down Union Street
I was scared and my head was in a bunch of places
Bought a 350 dollar pair of lampshades
And we ate at Perry's and we ordered crab cakes

Blue crab cakes
Blue crab cakes
Blue crab cakes

She said I seemed distracted and asked what's going on with me
I said I can't explain it, it's a middle age thing
She said okay and ate her eggs Benedict
And I looked at the walls cluttered with sports bar shit

Sports bar shit
Sports bar shit
Sports bar shit

Got on the phone and I called my mother
And called my father, talked a little bit with my sister
She's got a new boyfriend, he's a deer hunter
And she's getting used to venison

And my dad's still fighting with his girlfriend
About his flirting with the girls in Panera Bread
My momma's good but she sounded out of breath
I worry so much about her, I worry to death

I worry to death
I worry about her to death
I worry to death

The other night I went and saw The Postal Service
Ben's my friend but getting there was the worst
Tryna park and getting up the hill
And find a spot amongst the drunk kids staring at their cells
Staring at the back at the crowd of eight thousand

Thought of Ben when I met him, in 2000
At a festival in Spain, he was on a small stage then
And I didn't know his name
Now he's singing at the Greek and he's busting moves
And my legs were hurt and then my feet were, too
I called him after, said, "I'll skip the backstage "Hi/Bye"
But thanks for the nice music and all the exercise"

And we laughed and it was alright
And we laughed and it was alright
It was alright

There's a thin line between a middle-aged guy with a backstage pass
And a guy with a gut hangin' around like a jackass
Everybody was 20 years younger than me
At least I leave with this as my fondest memory
I carried my legs back down the hill
Gave my backstage pass to two cute Asian girls
I drove to my place near Tahoe

Got in my hot tub and I thought, "Well, that's how it goes"
It was quiet and I was listening to the crickets
And Ben's still out there, selling lots of tickets
And though I'm tentative there's attention better than this
But Ben's my friend and I know he gets it

Then in a couple of days my meltdown passed
Back to the studio doing twelve-hour shifts
Singing a song about one thing or another
Another day behind the microphone this summer

This tenderloin summer
This tenderloin summer
This tenderloin summer