Poison In The Well
10,000 Maniacs
Campfire Songs The Popular, Obscure & Unknown Recordings (2004)

( music: Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant )



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.