La Pena o La Nada

I know harder times
Are still to come
That some days in May are
Rainier than those in April

You nailed both eyes
And I still remember in your voice
Life is partly seeking pleasure
And partly finding pain

And in your wet gaze
I saw you praying for my soul, oh Lord
And I saw you cry, a river on each side
Of your unmade-up face
Like Katy Jurado herself
With the black clouds behind
I saw you cry, and what could I do
But run away and thus be able to cry myself

And in such circumstances
How was I to act
My soul anchored again
I heard you, tired of shipwrecking
But even if now there's fire
Or the sun shines in the sky
It's only your two eyes
That bring light and warmth to my life

And in your wet gaze
I saw you praying for my soul, oh Lord
And I saw you cry, a river on each side
Of your unmade-up face
Like Katy Jurado herself
With the black clouds behind
I saw you cry, and what could I do
If I sank without being able to cry myself

And in your wet gaze
I saw you praying for my soul, oh Lord
And I saw you cry, a river on each side
Of your unmade-up face
Like Katy Jurado herself
With the black clouds behind
Like the black listening to Van Zandt sing
Waiting around to die
Like Joan of Arc burning
Like the saint about to lose faith
I saw you cry

And between pain and nothing I chose pain
Between pain and nothing I chose pain