The rain washes tears down the streets of Olongapo
Into the sewers and out towards the sea
To be swallowed up whole in the wake of a warship
Then sink to the floor without trace of emotion

My song takes its cue when my belly
Draws tight from an unceasing hunger
And promise of bread on the waters arrives
On gray warships whose sailors rain thunder.

The verse echoes strident on sheets stained and threadbare
From work that sucks life from my spirit
And muffles hoarse cries of my soul into silence
(And no one's around who could hear it.)

A seaman descends down the streets with his buddies
With pesos to trade for my body.
He laughs, drunk on San Miguel, leering
He chooses me.

Then while he lunges, I grope in the darkness
For freedom, a light from the hallway 
One chance in a lifetime 
Worth giving away all the life left within me.

While the rain weeps the hours before dawning 
The sailor sleeps deep having done with me 
Lying beside him, I dream about trading
My life for his fortune and flying forever away.

But chorus of daylight arrives: he escapes me 
In silence, discarding my face with his underwear.
Fast comes the weight of forever upon me
Until I can't breathe, then my song ends.

The rain washes tears down the streets of Olongapo
Into the sewers and out towards the sea
To be swallowed up whole in the wake of a warship
Then sink to the floor without trace of emotion