Bishop Allen - Bellingham lyrics

It must have been our crooked start that chipped me out of place and that put me on a train to who knows where But looking out the window with the weight of my disgrace Looking for what, I didn't care But the little town was greater and old just like Bethlehem I said, "I'll stop right where I am" Bellingham And standing at the station A stranger in the rain She was calling out a name that wasn't mine She grabbed me by the shoulders And I shuddered in surprise But she seemed to recognize me alright And maybe I believed that she was there looking for me And maybe I just wanted to be found But I didn't try to clarify No, I just let her leave And she closed the trunk and drove me to her house She'd been waiting for so long She said, "Oh, I knew that you would come" But she knows not who I am Bellingham The whole town dreamed of steamer fleets, the sultry August day When the first ship cleared the Panama Can*l For the shipping lanes would mend and change their fortunes and their fates Well, I'm glad that they can't see what I see now For there's rubble and driftwood Where they pulled their dimes to pay for the most majestic dock in the Pugid Sound And when they cut the ribbon The county bra** band played What a sad moment it seems they struck up now No one ever could say why But oh, the ships just pa**ed on by And they still don't understand And how long did I think I could keep up the masquerade And how much did she know it was a lie When every bond I'd ever made, I'd broken or betrayed What made me think that I could step into a life that wasn't mine? I wrote a note and slipped away It said, "Oh, I just can't explain" But it's all been a show Bellingham