Luther's Windows
Badlees Lyrics

Luther's windows
The windows of Luther's house

Are littered with nothing
Are filled with insignificant items such as glass, a picture, a dead plant, a dusty white curtain, dog nose prints, and a shot glass collection from his past.

A crystal, a picture,
A crystal ornament and a picture adorn the windowsill

A dead potted sage
A dead potted plant of the sage variety

A dusty white curtain,
A dirty curtain colored white

The nose prints of a dog
Marks of the nose of a dog are left on the window

A shot glass collection
A series of shot glasses, used to drink liquor.

From his truck driving days
The shot glass collection is a momento from the days when Luther was a truck driver

Luther's bedroom
The place where Luther sleeps

Is as hot as an oven
Feels as warm as an oven due to a lack of ventilation

With air that's as stale
The air is stagnant and old

As old forgotten bread
Comparable to bread left out too long and then forgotten

In a cage on the dresser
Inside the cage kept on the dresser

There's a parrot that talks
A talking bird is kept inside

But her name over and over
The bird repeats only one phrase (its name) repeatedly

Is all that it says
That's the only thing the parrot seems capable of saying

Turn your back to the sun
If you look away from the sun

You see only shadows
You'll see only what's obscured, and not what's really there

Look beneath the stars
When you look up at the night sky

You see only night
You will see only darkness

Like a homesick sailor
Similar to a sailor who is longing for home

Luther's standing in the window
Luther is standing in his window frame

Watching the world
Observing the outside environment

Floating by him tonight
Drifting past Luther's position, without much care towards him

Luther's hands
The hands of Luther

Once held a chain
At one time, they owned a chain of different things

With keys to a home
The set of keys granted access to Luther's living establishment

And a blue Chevrolet
Additionally, he owned a blue Chevrolet

Now he lives with his mother,
Currently, he lives with his own mother

Steals all her liquor
He takes her liquor without asking and doesn't have any of his own

And chain smokes and stares
He smokes cigarettes one after the other and does nothing of worth

At the ceiling for days
He spends hours staring at the ceiling

Luther's sitting
Luther is sitting still

By himself on the sofa
He sits alone on a sofa

With his head bowed down
Looking downwards with head bent down

But his eyes are open wide
Even though his head is down, his eyes are open wide

Having a one man revival
He's revitalizing alone and to himself

With an electronic bible
He is reading the bible but instead of a physical copy, he uses an electronic version

Listening to the parade going by
He's listening to the sounds of the parade outside

And the bass drum is pounding,
The drum carrying the baseline can be heard thumping

The trumpets are bleating
The trumpet noise is blaring out

And he's reading
Seriously observing and engaging with the text

A verse from St. John
Luther is perusing a verse from the gospel of St. John

A trickle of light
A luminescent stream of light

Seeps through the blind
It enters via the window blinds

Luther pulls down the shade
He lowers the shade to block the light

Until he makes up his mind
Until he makes a true decision about his life

It's floating by him tonight
Everything is drifting past Luther tonight with no true significance