Sweeping Down the Plane

Somebody’s gotta put her down

And there’s no use poutin’ over it

I knew what I was signing up for

When I ran for Mayor

And belly-achin’ about doing what needs being done’ll just make people wonder

If electin’ me was a bad idea

People like her, I know that

And they don’t like me

And I know that too

But sometimes there’s the people everybody likes

And the people who get the job done

And until the job stops getting done

The people who used to do it

Ain’t gettin’ many valentines

Just the way things work, I guess

When we got here, we said we weren’t taking any chances

Somebody gets sick

They get put down

Just like that

Otherwise that third arm starts growing out of their chests

And their ears fall off

And pretty soon they barely drive a carriage

No use pretendin’ it’ll be any different for Becky

Than it is for everybody else

She’s waiting for me on the platform now, Joe

I know she’s your girl and all

But she knows she’s sick

And she knows what has to come next

Hell, you’re lucky you’re not the one

Who has to pull the switch

And kick the door out from under her

Hangin’s the only right way to kill

Whatever that thing is

That’s livin’ inside her

Otherwise I’d just shoot her

Clean and quick

And that’d be that

No surprise to me that things gotta be hard

We knew that when we loaded up the first time

And took off from Philly

The way I see it, your girl Becky could have died in the blizzard last year

Or during the summer fires

Or any one of the outbreaks we had

Her number just happened to come up on this one

And you can sulk about it

But you and I know damn well

That one day somebody’s going to have to pull the switch on me

When I’m up on that platform

And that person’s going to be you

I’m not having no stranger

Or no new Mayor

Standing up there with me

When I go

That’s gotta be your job

And it could be sooner

Rather than later

So you gotta find a way to come to terms with it

And this here’s as good an opportunity as any

Now, I think you should go on out to that platform

And talk with Becky a little bit

Say what you gotta say

Nobody’s gonna be gawkin’ at you

I told ‘em to give the girl some peace

Before the hangin’ at three

A first love’s a beautiful thing

Partly because it’s the first

And how it ends don’t take away

From how it was

If you try to make it something more

Pretty soon the black stuff’ll be coming out of her nose

And her toes’ll all glue together

Making her feet out to be stumps

And she’ll try eatin’ every goat in sight

People change, son

Nothin’ you can do about that

Just gotta let it happen

And be ready to snap their necks

When the time comes

Then you go home

You pour yourself a drink

You sit on your porch

And you let the sunset

Put you to sleep