Poison In The Well Lyrics

Poison In The Well

[ music: Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant ]

Tell me what`s gone wrong. 
I tilt my head there, under the faucet, but when I turn it on -- dry as paper. 
Call the neighbors. 
Who`s to blame for what`s going on? 
In the dark without a clue I`m just the same as you. 

O, they tell us there`s poison in the well, 
that someone`s been a bit untidy and there`s been a small spill. 
Not a lot, no, just a drop. 
But there you are mistaken, you know you are. 
I wonder just how long they knew our well was poisoned but they let us just
drink on. 

O, they tell us there`s poison in the well, 
that someone`s been a bit untidy and there`s been a small spill. 
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea. 
Someone`s been a bit untidy, they`ll have it cleaned up in a week. 
But the week is over and now it`s grown into years since I was told that I
should be calm, there`s nothing to fear here. 
But I drank that water for years, my wife and my children. 

Tell me, where to now, if your fight for a bearable life can be fought and lost
in you backyard? 

O, don`t tell us there`s poison in the well, 
that someone`s been a bit untidy, that there`s been a small spill. 
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea. 
Someone`s been a bit untidy, they`ll have it cleaned up in a week.