Text: Lyle Lovett. Step Inside This House. Texas Trilogy: Daybreak.

(Steve Fromholz)

Six o'clock silence
Of a new day beginning
Is heard in the small Texas town
Like a signal from nowhere
The people who live there
Are up and moving around
'Cause there's bacon to fry
And there's biscuits to bake
On the stove that the Salvation Army won't take
And you open the windows
And you turn on the fan
'Cause it's hotter than hell
When the sun hits the land

Walter and Fanny
Well they own the grocery
That sell most all that you need
They've been up and working
Since early this morning
They've got the whole village to feed
Well they put out fresh eggs
And throw bad ones away
That rotted because
Of the heat yesterday
The store is all dark
So you can't see the flies
That settle on round steak
And last Monday's pies

Sleepy Hill's drugstore
And the cafe are open
The coffee is bubbling hot
'Cause the folks that ain't working
Gonna sit there 'til sundown
And talk about what they ain't got
Someone just threw a clutch
In the old pickup truck
It seems like they're riding
On a streak of bad luck
The doctor bills came
And the well has gone dry
Seems their grown kids don't care
Whether they live or die