"Life Without Susanna" lyrics - RODNEY CROWELL

Life without Susanna started when Townes Van Zandt died
From that day on she hid out undercover
Her Percocet and cigarette along for the ride

She made the bed inside her head a shelter
Each new day a sliver through the blinds
I tried tough love, tenderness and anger
But nothing pierced the fortress inside her mind

The first time I saw her she threw me that smile
Pure angel of mercy east Texas style
A poet in gingham, an assassin in jeans
The most near perfect woman I'd ever seen
She was hardly routine

Life without Susanna troubles me in ways hard to express
As she withdrew I grew distant and judgmental
A self-sure bastard and a stubborn bitch
Locked in a deadly game of chess
The upside of my status as a cut above the rest

The last time I saw her was close to the end
I cried like a baby for the shape I was in
No lipstick, no powder to soften the tone
The most worthy opponent that I've ever known
Was already gone

Life without Susanna is something we all have to face
So welcome to the world as we don't know it
Big blue knuckleball free floating somewhere out in space
Where life without Susanna is no man's saving grace
This is life without Susanna and I can't find my place