ODESSA Long drive south with business on my mind Four days tired, left too much behind Thought I'd see the water, do what I came to do Turn the car around when I was through Then the air changed somewhere near the coast Warm perfume drifting everywhere I'd go Soft voices rolling underneath the sun Like everybody knew something I didn't know I swear I'd just walked out of Antarctica Still had winter underneath my skin Then Odessa opened up the evening And summer came walking in Old brick underneath my feet Tables spilling to the street Umbrellas catching evening light And every corner changed the night Odessa Where the hell you been hiding all my life Odessa Black Sea burning underneath that sunset light I came down here for business That's the story I rehearsed But the city smelled like summer And those smiles just made it worse Odessa I was only passing through Now every road out of this city Feels like the wrong one to choose Old balconies above the sidewalks Trees hanging heavy over everything Summer dresses crossing through the traffic Perfume getting there before I'd see them Fresh nails wrapped around a glass Painted toes beneath a café chair Long legs disappearing down the avenue Golden hair moving through the air One block quiet underneath the branches Next one packed from wall to wall Music bleeding somewhere through the buildings Like the whole damn city got the call Funny how you don't know you've been freezing Till somebody makes the winter stop I caught myself smiling for no reason Walking nowhere Didn't want to stop Black Sea breathing in the distance Warm night tangled in my hair I had somewhere else to be that night I just couldn't remember where Odessa Where the hell you been hiding all my life Odessa Sea-blue water underneath those city lights I came down here for business That's the story I rehearsed But every street kept getting prettier And every turn just made it worse Odessa I was only passing through Now every road out of this city Feels like the wrong one to choose Then Arcadia after midnight Whole damn coastline wide awake Bass rolling underneath the open sky Lights dancing off the waves Crowds pouring underneath the lights Tables full and nowhere left to sit Sea behind a wall of music And nobody looked ready to quit Pink light falling on the pavement Old façades watching from above Somewhere between the noise and water I remembered what it felt like to love Not somebody Not a promise Not another complicated thing Just being somewhere beautiful And feeling something inside me breathe Maybe I didn't know how cold I'd gotten Till Odessa felt warm A smile without a question Kindness asking nothing in return For years I'd breathed enough to keep me going Forgot what filling up my lungs could do Then that Black Sea air went through me And suddenly the whole damn world looked new Same country Different world Old streets Black Sea Summer walking everywhere And me standing there thinking Where the hell have I been? Odessa Where the hell you been hiding all my life Odessa Golden water underneath the fading light Came down here for business That's what I told myself was true Then the streets came alive around me And I came alive there too Odessa Maybe it's the women Maybe it's the sea Maybe it's the way you made the world Look different back to me Odessa I was only passing through Funny how a place you never looked for Can give something back to you Long drive south Business on my mind Black Sea Old streets Perfume in the night I came here thinking of somebody Funny I can't remember why Santi Flores
