Turning lane

You thought you could free the slaves
By filling out the proper paperwork
'Till you turned out all your pockets
And realized they never were

You pulled your kids out of the public school
And resigned to your irreverence
And you set a torch to the old duck blind
Where your heartache took up residence

You were all dressed up
But you didn't know what
All the commotion inside you was for

What did we expect
After all that shame?
Some familiar stretch of crippling faith?
What did we expect
After all that fear?
Some inheritance
To make the past run clear?

Thought we could concentrate just hard enough
To let those feelings in
We were both stuck in the turning lane
But that's where we've always been

I guess we took our love in one big dose
And retired to the peasantry
Saying "paradise exists
But it is locked away inside our memories"

You couldn't sit still
Not while you knew well
That all the commotion
Was held in your name