Abandoning My Father Talking Blues The Mountain Goats

It was 9 A.M. when the U-Haul came
And I heard my momma call my name
My daddy taught English at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
He was at work that day, it was time to go
We were moving on

I was five years old and my sister was three
I was wondering what would likely become of me
My sister looked sad and I tried to be strong
It was hard just to get up and move along
We were moving

But by five in the afternoon we were gone
And my stepfather welcomed me with open arms
We strolled right through that apartment door
I had never lived in an apartment before
And it was weird

I'll probably never know what it was like that night
For my dad, but I'd wager it was pretty bad
My sister and me, we stayed up late
Talking in the dark and not feeling so great

We were moving out of our house
Into somebody else's place
Into a two-story apartment complex
With a swing set and a sandbox in the middle of a parking lot
And a laundry room with four glistening washing machines
And two dryers
Keep the home fires burning
Keep the home fires burning
Keep the home, home fires burning