1943

Lyrics

[THE RADIO] You give in to memories [THE WASHING MACHINE] 1943 you marry [CAROLINE] Handsome boy, a navy man He go off to fight Japan [THE WASHING MACHINE] You stay home [CAROLINE] Give birth to Larry Then three years of lonely waiting Fearful prayers Anticipating [THE WASHING MACHINE] 1945 the Navy Send you home your handsome man [THE RADIO] Life is sunny, life is gravy [CAROLINE] Thank you, Jesus Thank you, Navy He is home now, every limb Is beauty, lovely like a tree Falling deep in love with him [THE RADIO] The handsome Navy man Falling deep in love with him Long and tall and sweet and slim [CAROLINE] Even now your hands can summon [THE RADIO] How his neck, his belly feel Shoulders, what his breath was like Hands burn then with happy fire [CAROLINE] Every inch of you [CAROLINE & THE RADIO] Desire Longing sets your skin aflame [CAROLINE] Nurse the baby Sing his name [THE RADIO] Sing his name! Sing his name! [THE WASHING MACHINE & THE RADIO] Back in 1947 [CAROLINE] Ain't no work for Negro men [THE WASHING MACHINE] You's both hanging on to heaven [CAROLINE] Emmie come [THE WASHING MACHINE & THE RADIO] Shipyard close [CAROLINE] 'Mmonia factory almost hire him [THE RADIO] Only white mens in that union [CAROLINE] He get drunk, he scared, he angry Feeling hopeless, I suppose [THE WASHING MACHINE] He hit you [CAROLINE] Just once [THE WASHING MACHINE] He break your nose [CAROLINE] Larry is a gentle baby Emmie fussy, never sleeps He get drunk He broke my nose [THE RADIO] Even now your face can summon [CAROLINE] What his punch feel like, the pain [THE RADIO] Pain is white Remember pain? Pain is white That is its color Bright as sunshine Nighttime follow Bitterness you drink and swallow [CAROLINE] God, whose eye is on the sparrow Please make Emmie go to bed Folk'll stare tomorrow Jesus, please fix up my swollen head Please, a job so he stop drinking Please, he don't like digging sewers [THE WASHING MACHINE] No one likes that diggin' sewers [CAROLINE] Please give me a mop and bucket Please, a white folks' house to tend Please, some money, feed my babies Choke his throat when he drink liquor Make my sis help with my babies Let him see He mess with me After I have spent the day Putting white folks' clothes away Tell him God, if he ever Ever Ever hit me again [THE RADIO] Larry, Emmie, Jackie, Joe [THE WASHING MACHINE] Other men find work [CAROLINE, spoken] He don't [THE RADIO] Change come fast and change come slow [THE WASHING MACHINE] Other men leave drink [CAROLINE, spoken] He can't [THE WASHING MACHINE] Ahead of time you're gettin' old Care beatin' down on you Then one day [CAROLINE & THE WASHING MACHINE] Then one day [CAROLINE] One bad day He hit again [THE WASHING MACHINE] You beat him black and blue Then he disappear from view [THE RADIO] And even now [CAROLINE & THE RADIO] Your hand can summon [CAROLINE] What it like to beat his face in What his back feel like, his kiss [THE WASHING MACHINE] Even now, your scar hand miss [CAROLINE] The handsome boy, the Navy man [CAROLINE, THE WASHING MACHINE & THE RADIO] Sorrow bleed you [CAROLINE] Where is he? [THE WASHING MACHINE & THE RADIO, CAROLINE] You are sixteen (Where is he?) Sixteen Sixteen (Where is he?) Sixteen Sixteen [ROSE] Caroline