Bad Girl Blues - Trouble Wears Perfume

[Intro] Mud on the soles, screen door stuck You left that porch light on I came up with the gravel in my cuffs And the storm still hanging on Yeah, the latch gave once, then held me Like it knew I shouldn't stay Mud on the soles, screen door stuck And I was already halfway there [Harmony1] My shoes got red clay on 'em From the road behind your place I came up slow by your screen door With the storm still on my face [Verse1] You said, "Boy, don't you wait here" Like I was still a guest But the kettle sat all quiet And the kitchen felt distressed I kept my cap in my hands there Like I didn't know where to go That house held your last hour in it And it moved real slow [Prechorus] I keep one hand on the latch One foot halfway out I hear your name in the floorboards In the sink, in the spout [Chorus] Red clay shoes, red clay shoes They track that road back through Red clay shoes, red clay shoes Can't scrub off what we knew (Oh, red clay shoes) (Oh, red clay shoes) [Harmony2] Red clay shoes on the mat by the sink By the beans gone cold and the coffee gone dark Red clay shoes, I can still hear them Crossing that porch when the whole world sparked [Verse2] I found your scarf on the porch rail Folded tight, gone stiff Smelled like motel soap and cedar And the smoke off the bluff The porch light kept on buzzing Like it had something to say I sat there with that weak black coffee And let it go cold away [Prechorus2] I keep one hand on the latch One foot halfway out I hear your name in the floorboards In the sink, in the spout [Chorus2] Red clay shoes, red clay shoes They track that road back through Red clay shoes, red clay shoes Can't scrub off what we knew (Oh, red clay shoes) (Oh, red clay shoes) [Harmony3] If I step past the kitchen line If I turn and shut that door This whole house keeps your outline Like it did before [Verse3] I walked down by the creek bed Past the cane and rusted wire The red dirt took my footprints Like it knew my tires A dog barked from the feed store A screen banged in the wind I kept your goodbye in my pocket Till the seam gave in [Prechorus3] I keep one hand on the latch One foot halfway out I hear your name in the floorboards In the sink, in the spout [Chorus3] Red clay shoes, red clay shoes They track that road back through Red clay shoes, red clay shoes Can't scrub off what we knew (Oh, red clay shoes) (Oh, red clay shoes) [Verse4] Now dawn comes up on the trailer roof And the yard is slick and red There's a dent in the screen door frame Where your shoulder left it bent I lace up slow, don't say much Just breathe and face the morn These red clay shoes know every step I took after you were gone [Bridge] If I go, I go by the back road Past the beans and the field stone wall If I stay, this house keeps talking Till I answer it all So I shake off the mud at the threshold But it stays, like it knows my name Red clay on my shoes, on my ankles On the hem of the same old blame [Outro] My shoes got red clay on 'em From the road behind your place I set my hand against the screen door And it answers with a sway That porch light keeps on breathing Through the gray before the sun Mud on the soles, red clay on the tongue Like a word I can't get undone If I go, I go quiet If I stay, the boards still hum My shoes got red clay on 'em And the house keeps some of what I come