Ian Galipeau - Red-Winged Blackbird (Live) Lyrics

Mama named her for the mountains
Everybody else just called her Laci for short
But the paperwork said Appalachia
When her social worker wouldn't find the evidence
To bring her case to court
She turned twelve in late December
A month before she found her mom in cardiac arrest
Her dad was passed out next door
A pile of empties and some crystal
With her uncle and the rest
Anyone could have seen it coming
Thirteen years before
If they knew what they were looking for
They were looking for
A red-winged blackbird
Her story written by her name
A red-winged blackbird
No matter where she flew she knew that she would never get away
The first boy to give her money
Would have finished up with school a year before her if he'd stayed
She told herself it's just the one time
Didn't think her dad was sobered up enough
To even notice what she'd taken
Anyone could have seen it coming
Sixteen years before
If they knew what they were looking for
They were looking for
A red-winged blackbird
Her story written by her name
A red-winged blackbird
No matter where she flew she knew that she would never get away
It was the second week of summer
When she left it all behind her and just started walking south
Something new, to trace the river back
To its source, and just keep walking on
Up into the mountains
There was no one there to see it happen
The moment she transformed
But if anyone was looking for her
They were looking for
A red-winged blackbird
Making her escape
A red-winged blackbird
Letting her wings carry her away from all the pain
A red-winged blackbird
Story written and erased
A red-winged blackbird
No matter where she flew she knew she was gonna find her way