Poison In The Well

10,000 Maniacs

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.