Songtext Carlos is crying The Hold Steady

Carlos is crying

The singer kind of slaughtered I Wanna Be Your Lover
And someone went to fetch a few more pitchers
It wasn't all that crowded because the softball games had washed out in the rain
I'd slipped out of my shift on some sort of screw up with the schedule
There's a couple newer places by the river but Skippers is mainly where we hang

Carlos had been distant since his sister went to Denver with that dickhead
The dude claimed he was a carpenter but no one ever saw him pound a nail
And Carlos knew his sister was old enough to make her own decisions
But he hopes she isn't home when they finally come to take that jerk to jail

Now Carlos starts crying and we're all kind of frightened
Every single person at the table stops talking
And he's sobbing and shaking and yeah we've been drinking
But it's different for boys

He said how did this happen? It feels like we're drifting
Are you sure we're even asking all the pertinent questions?
Turn on the burner and the butter will blacken
Don't act like this was even our choice

Mickey got up to get some money to put into the jukebox
The waitress brought some water and then quickly scurried off back towards the bar
Carlos didn't even seem to care who was taking in the breakdown
I asked him if he wanted me to offer to walk him to his car

He said how did we get here? We started as skaters
Then you got your license and then graduation
Then I changed medications and everything after
Went sideways including tonight

You had a Screamer with trackers and OJs
And I had a Steadham with Bones and a dome tail
And if failure's a trick then we learned pretty quick
It just took a few times to get right

Man, we used to glide
We used to hang like the smoke
We'd show off for my sister
We didn't mind being broke

Now every conversation I have is about money
And I leave home in the morning but then I just keep driving
Kill off the day until you guys stop working
Then pitchers at Skippers now Carlos is crying

Carlos is crying because he didn't tell his girlfriend
That he stopped showing up at his job in the morning
And it's been a few weeks and he knows it's not sweet
And he's sobbing and shaking and all I can say is

I love you I feel you I know that you're hurting
You're scared for your sister. You haven't been working.
I love you I feel you I'm sorry you're hurting but
Turn off the burner the butter is burning