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 Santi Flores
