A Night This Side Of Dying — Carole King

I remember one young sister with rainbows in her eyes Standing on a corner with the afternoon's supply She spoke of other places, perhaps a better road Then she asked if I could tell her where they kept the mother lode

Like a night this side of dying Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf When she hears her lifeline crying Not a thing you say can stop her When she just can't stop herself

I remember that July, the panic and the heat The savage shine of summer, the strychnine in the street The way they sold each other for a favor in glassine The best of friends sold brothers for a dime of quinine dreams

Like a night this side of dying Her day's inside the dropper on the shelf Like the shelter she's been buying Not a thing I've got can save her When she just can't save herself She just can't save herself