(This is my father's story
Michael P. Kearney
Born in Rochester, NY)
 
I was born in Rochester to a bookmaking man
Had a fake cigar shop with the games on in the back
See them coming and going, let them ride on thoroughbreds
Police chief and tarball wondering what was the spread

Carried rich men's bag through the branch, trying to chase down the little white ball
I learned that any soft place wasn't good for me at all
Daddy come home fired and looking forward for some sort of release
He beat the hell out of Timmy, Timmy beat the hell out of me

I would hop the fence out to those government fields
Run 'til there was nothing more to feel
Lying there, watching planes just disappear
Knowing one day I'm gonna fly up out of here

Well, that same police chief came knocking my first freshmen day
Put my daddy in handcuffs and his picture on the front page
Took every one of his suits and all my dignity
Walked the halls of Irondequoit waiting for a napalm to set me free
 
I would hop the fence out to those government fields
Run 'til there was nothing more to feel
Lying there, watching planes just disappear
Knowing one day I'm gonna fly up out of here
 
Well, I got the call to Vietnam, just like everyone else I knew
So scared of the handgrenades, threw them farther than any other troop
Came home like an iron first and Timmy tried to take my keys
Ripped open his front pocket, that was the last time he touched me
 
Moved to an island out west, up to Breckinridge
Met a mermaid on a glass boat and she promised me some kids
Bought a house in Oregon where you could touch both of the walls
Had a son named Benjamin and I was so scared of it all
 
Benjamin walked in the front room where I was cutting up my hash
Looked into those deep blue eyes, wondering why I'd been so mad
Flushed a quarter pound down the drain, praying for the mercy to confess
Trying to rip the boy from Rochester right out of my chest

We're gonna walk right out into those heavenly fields
Run like there was no more time to steal
My three boys in the grace of God I feel
Knowing one day I'm gonna take me out of here
Knowing one day you're gonna take me out of here