10000 Maniacs – Poison In The Well

[ music: Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant ]

Tell me what’s gone wrong.

I tilt my head there, under the faucet, but when I turn it on — dry as paper.

Call the neighbors.

Who’s to blame for what’s going on?

In the dark without a clue I’m just the same as you.

O, they tell us there’s poison in the well,

that someone’s been a bit untidy and there’s been a small spill.

Not a lot, no, just a drop.

But there you are mistaken, you know you are.

I wonder just how long they knew our well was poisoned but they let us just drink on.

O, they tell us there’s poison in the well,

that someone’s been a bit untidy and there’s been a small spill.

All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.

Someone’s been a bit untidy, they’ll have it cleaned up in a week.

But the week is over and now it’s grown into years since I was told that I should be calm, there’s nothing to fear here.

But I drank that water for years, my wife and my children.

Tell me, where to now, if your fight for a bearable life can be fought and lost in you backyard?

O, don’t tell us there’s poison in the well,

that someone’s been a bit untidy, that there’s been a small spill.

All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.

Someone’s been a bit untidy, they’ll have it cleaned up in a week.