You tied my shirt sleeve
to the wire by the yard
My collar in the breeze
like a flag from a bad heart
You laughed with your hands full
clothespins in your teeth
Said “don’t let go now”
and you let go of me
The sheet took the sunlight
like a borrowed halo
We were two cheap halos
spinning on the same rope
I could hear your name
in the snap of the line
I could feel that pull
every time it shook by
And I knew, I knew
what the fence would say
But you left me hanging
in the sweetest way
Lovers on a clothesline
turning in the heat
Lovers on a clothesline
you and me, you and me
Take me up again
let the whole block see
Lovers on a clothesline
high as we can be
Red socks, white pillowcase
your blue jeans, my old tee
All our little arguments
washed clean in the bleach
The neighbors looked up once
then they looked away
Like they knew our little storm
would burn off by day
You said love is easier
when it’s out in the open
So we pinned it to the wire
and left it broken
I could hear your name
in the snap of the line
I could feel that pull
every time it shook by
And I knew, I knew
what the fence would say
But you left me hanging
in the sweetest way
Lovers on a clothesline
turning in the heat
Lovers on a clothesline
you and me, you and me
Take me up again
let the whole block see
Lovers on a clothesline
high as we can be
Now the yard’s gone quiet
and the pegs are still
One bare wire singing
through the afternoon hill
If I call your name out
it comes back thin
Like a shirt on the line
after the wind
Lovers on a clothesline
turning in the heat
Lovers on a clothesline
you and me, you and me
Take me up again
let the whole block see
Lovers on a clothesline
high as we can be
Lovers on a clothesline
don’t you set me free
Lovers on a clothesline
stay there next to me
