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I Knew These People
Ry Cooder
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I knew these people, these two people. They were in love with each
Other. The girl was very young, about seventeen or eighteen, I guess
And the guy was quite a bit older. And he was kind of raggedy and
Wild, and she was very beautiful, you know? And together, they turned
Everything into a kind of an adventure, and she liked that. Just an
Ordinary trip down to the grocery store was full of adventure. And
They were always laughing at stupid things. He liked to make her
Laugh. And they didn't much care for anything else, uh
Because all they wanted to do was be with each other. They
Were always together. And he, he loved her more than he ever
Felt possible. He couldn't stand being away from her, um
During the day when he went to work. So he'd quit, just to be
Home with her. Then he'd get another job when the money ran out
And then he'd quit again. But pretty soon she started to worry
ย
About what?
Money, I guess, not having enough, not
Knowing when the next check was coming in
Yep, I know that feelin'
So he started to get kind of torn inside
How do you mean?
Well, he knew he had to work to support her
But he couldn't stand being away from her, either
I see
And the more he was away from her, the crazier he got. Except now
He got really crazy. He started imagining all kinds of things
Like what?
He started thinking that she was seeing other men on the sly
He'd come home from work and accuse her of spending the day with
Somebody else. He'd yell at her and break things in the trailer
The trailer?
Yes. They lived in a trailer home. Anyway, he started to drink
Real bad, and he'd stay out late to test her, to see if she'd get
Jealous. He wanted her to get jealous, but she didn't. She just
Worried about him. But that got him even madder. He thought if
She never got jealous of him, that she didn't really care about him
Jealousy was a sign of her love for him. And then one night...
One night, she told him that she was pregnant. She was about three or
Four months pregnant, and he didn't even know. And then suddenly
Everything changed. He stopped drinking and got a steady job. He was
Convinced that she loved him now because she was carrying his child
And he was going to dedicate himself to making a home for her. But
A funny thing started to happen. He didn't even notice it at first
She started to change. From the day the baby was born, she began to
Get irritated with everything around her. She got mad at everything
Even the baby seemed to be an injustice to her. He kept trying to
Make everything all right for her, buy her things, take her out to
Dinner once a week, but nothing seemed to satisfy her. For two years
He struggled to pull them back together like they were when they
First met. But finally, he knew that it was never going to work out
So he hit the bottle again, but this time it got mean. This time when
He came home late at night, she wasn't worried about him, or jealous
She was just enraged. She accused him of holding her captive by
Making her have a baby. She told him that she dreamed about escaping
That was all she dreamed about, escape. She saw herself at night
Running naked down a highway, running across fields, running
Down riverbeds, always running. And always, just when she
Was about to get away, he'd be there. He would stop her somehow
He would just appear and stop her. And when she told him
These dreams, he believed them. He knew she had to be stopped
Or she'd leave him forever. So he tied a cowbell to her ankle
So he could hear at night if she tried to get out of bed
But she learned how to muffle the bell by stuffing a sock
Into it and inching her way out of the bed and into the night
He caught her one night when the sock fell out
And he heard her trying to run to the highway
He caught her and dragged her back to the
Trailer and tied her to the stove with his belt
He just left her there, went back to bed
And lay there listening to her scream
Then he listened to his son scream
And he was surprised at himself
Because he didn't feel anything anymore
All he wanted to do was sleep
And for the first time, he wished he were far away
ย
Lost in a deep, vast country where nobody knew him
Somewhere without language or streets
And he dreamed about this place without knowing its name
And when he woke up, he was on fire
There were blue flames burning the sheets of his bed
He ran through the flames toward the only two people he loved
But they were gone
His arms were burning and he threw himself
Outside and rolled on the wet ground
Then he ran
He never looked back at the fire
He just ran
ย
He ran until the sun came up
And he couldn't run any further
And when the sun went down, he ran again
For five days he ran like this
Until every sign of man had disappeared
ย