Gloria Deluxe - Family Tree lyrics

An American flag he hung down from the roof And he hung it askew He laid down on it in a drunken stupor And dreamed about his daddy how his daddy used to do Sleeping on an old cot out in the barn Working through the heat out in the yard Kicking back a whiskey 'til the sun come up And showing up to church half drunk Playing poker all night long And playing the accordion that same old song: Who loves you more than me? Who loves you more than your family? Yeah, he remembers it Lookin' through the crack between the blanket and the wall He sees his daddy bash a phone into his mamma's skull Over and over and over again And his rage and her shame flow through him Well it's a strange little custom in the family And the branch never falls too far from the tree Now some may call that a natural thing But I call it a good old-fashioned tragedy 'Cause it's an old-fashioned dream to plant a family tree Mix blood on blood in a family recipe And it could be so good, it's the oldest story in the book She sees her stepdaddy comin' and her knees get weak Just one touch she pa**es out on the street But she covers up the bruises so her mamma won't see 'Cause what have you got without your family? Yeah his mamma beat him just like that too And now these two lay together in a drunken stupor She's crying 'cause of what he might do Now how can two of a kind create something new? Yeah what's the good of forgiveness if the sinners go free And come back to haunt you in your time of need to say: Who loves you like I do? Who else is gonna be there to see you through? Because vengeance is such a waste of energy And you get poisoned fruit from a poisoned tree So let's pull it out by the roots Let's chop it up and put it to a brand-new use: It's fuel for the fire of a family tree