Lyrics

Innocence
Copyright 2005
Dan Pelletier

Down in the French Quarter, hard by the tracks
There’s an old grey man in a railroad shack
Where for 15 dollars or one fifth of Jack
He will give you your innocence back
He’s got extracts of mercury and tinctures of gold
He’s got tonics and potions and a wisdom of old
And you don’t need to tell him he already knows
If you’re sins of the flesh or sins of the soul

And you’ll walk back outside into the warm, cleansing rain
Free of your sorrow, free of your shame
And the world will look big, bright and holy again
Untouched by the sins of men

See the line to the street must be twenty or more
See the customers changed as they walk out his door
Men and women, plain and pretty, young and old, rich and poor

And they walk back outside into the warm, cleansing rain
Free of their guilt free of their pain
And the world will look big, bright and holy again
Untouched by the sins of men

So in anticipation, I waited my turn
The secrets of this ancient wise man to learn
He smiled as I paid and he ushered me in
Sat me down in a chair with a wide, toothless grin
Then he looked in my face and sat back in surprise
With a hard look of sorrow and pitiful eyes
Wiped his brow, pushed his chair back to stand
And just laid my money back into my hand

And I walked back outside into the warm, cleansing rain
But it did not ease my sorrow did not lift my shame
And the world that that I knew looked exactly the same

Down in the French Quarter, hard by the tracks
There’s an old grey man in a railroad shack
Where for 15 dollars or one fifth of Jack
He will give you your innocence back