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Duncan Street Ruby

from Desolation Sound by Luke Maynard

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lyrics

9. Duncan Street Ruby

It’s a sin to be seen after dark in this town,
In the mouths of the widows who talk.
It’s a crime after sunset to come wandering down
Past the storefronts to silently stalk,
So in twilight we come, when the light’s burning low
Like a yard fire that’s dying with no place to go.

There are nights, there are days, when everything’s grey
Like a half-rendered dream in the night,
From the words of my wife to the years of my life
I have milled into sawdust and spite.
But she gave me her hand as we stood on the stair,
And I swear I saw gold in the gold of her hair.
Oh my Duncan Street Ruby,
Where can you be—where can you be?

And she says the big city’s just a prison for pretty girls—
But they have no chains,
Only nurses and shelters with angels for your veins,
And the faces keep changing there; nobody knows you—
At least, no one who pays.
In this town, she’s a shadow, a rouge desperado—
All she can count are the days.

It’s a long shroud of fog on the water tonight
All the islands are lost in the dusk
It’s a cold northern wind ’round my collar at the light
Where it picks up the grit and the dust
And the sun’s going down on the hills to the west—
Then she’s laying her curls on their shadowy breast.
My Duncan Street Ruby,
Where can you be—where can you be?

Now the night has come down; all the young folks are out,
Huddled close ’round their joints in the dark.
For the ghost of an hour, I’ve been drifting about,
Like a dry leaf in search of a spark.
Guess she’s finally gone, to the needle or the brine,
To the white bed for one at the end of her line.
My Duncan Street Ruby,
Where can you be—where can you be?

credits

from Desolation Sound, released June 30, 2018
All vocals & instruments by Luke Maynard
Written by Luke Maynard

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Luke Maynard Toronto, Ontario

Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, old-school Canadian acoustic troubaour, and all-purpose sonic roustabout.

Loitering around the upper frets since 1996.

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