Richmond Fontaine - Willamette lyrics

My brother left home one night no one knew where he went No calls of letters were sent Then it was just my mom and me alone in that house She'd lock herself in her room and she'd only come out to To go to work and at night she'd come home Sometimes with three men she'd lock herself in with them So I'd go down to Jackson's and I'd hide in his yard He'd sneak me out beer until his house was clear At night at night we'd sit on the banks of the polluted Willamette River and we'd try and we'd try to piece together Our lives away from there My brother came home two years later when I was sixteen He said he'd gone to California and was a merchant marine He rented us a house a house with a yard and a House with a porch and at night we'd sit out on it He'd tell me of Thailand and Singapore and of Hong Kong and Vietnam and the money he made and the women he had and The miles and miles of sea and sand the miles and miles of I still have his car and his horse shoe chain and the Letters that he wrote me but he never would send and I still have the tattoo Harry gave both of us and I still have his leather boots and his pocket knife but My brother's been gone for three weeks and no one knows Where he went or even why or how Now Jackson stays at my place 'cause he can't stay at home Now Jackson stays at my place 'cause he can't stand his folks