The telephone rang
My sister calling
I got to run, I said
No no no no no
I just want to tell you
To tell you
Dad is dead

Dad is dead?
Well, when did it happen?
Six AM, said she
New York time or California?
New York time
I see

The telephone rang
The week of the earthquake
Death was still in the air
At six'o one
The walls came down
They never had a prayer

Dad is dead?
Well, how is mother?
Good, as she can be
I said when dad was going
Did he happen
To ask
For me?

Remember the way
I used to time step
Lord, it made him proud
He told his friends
(He never told me)
That I stood above the crowd

Remember the way
He played the Jew's harp
Till he broke a tooth
Why'd he have to turn against me?
He loved me
Once
In his youth

But Jesus
I couldn't live his life
Make his fantasies real
I couldn't be him
I had to be me
I couldn't make up for the deal
The dirty deal
He got in this world
He got in a treacherous world

Where six am suddenly breaks
With senseless death and shocking quakes
Senseless death and shocking quakes