"Friend of the Devil"

by Counting Crows

I sat out on my roof, looking over the desert night sky. Alyssa had gone to sleep hours before and I knew she lay comfortably in bed while I sat up with my worries.

Spark had begun acting strangely and Dia seemed to be putting me off more than usual lately. I understood he was busy, but both of their behaviors was making me worry, I'm sure unnecessarily.

I thought to a song I had heard a merchant singing to people on the streets of Urulu as he passed through. I did not know of the places he sang, and I thought perhaps neither had he, but I had learned the song none the less. It reminded me of Dia and I sang it softly to myself.

"I lit out from Reno,

I was trailed by twenty hounds.

Didn't get to sleep that night,

'till the morning came around."

I had never met the man, or perhaps woman, who had written this song. But they sounded a lot like me. Someone was always chasing me, usually because they did not understand me. I was no stranger to having to stay up through the night to avoid blood-lusting pursuers.

"Set out runnin' but I take my time.

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.

If I get home before daylight,

I just might get some sleep tonight."

It was becoming a rarer occurrence where I could find others outside of Urulu who aligned with my god. They call him the devil, but that doesn't phase me. I've spent most of my life being called a monster and a freak. I will follow Dianite to the ends of the realm no matter what they call us.

"Ran into the devil, babe,

He loaned me twenty bills.

I spent the night in Utah,

in a cave up in the hills.

Set out runnin' but I take my time.

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.

If I get home before daylight,

I just might get some sleep tonight."

Tears started to run down my cheeks and I had to stop singing for a moment to get the lump out of my throat before I could continue. I was suddenly very thankful that I had chosen to live near the edge of town so that there was a very minimal threat of anyone seeing me in this state, or for that matter, hearing me sing.

"I ran down to the levee,

but the devil caught me there.

He took my twenty dollar bill,

and vanished in the air."

Time after time recently I had tried to get Dianite's attention. He ignored me and I was forced to do nothing beyond the general upkeep and security of the city. The guards and townspeople always judged me without ever seeing what I would do, so I tended to hang around the maintenance workers. They were too busy keeping Urulu out of a drought to judge me and were always happy for an extra pair of hands, regardless of how they looked.

"Set out runnin' but I take my time.

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.

If I get home before daylight,

I just might get some sleep tonight.

Got two reasons why I cry,

away each lonely night.

The first one's named Sweet Anne Marie,

And she's my heart's delight.

The second one is prison, baby;

the sheriff's on my trail.

And if he catches up with me,

I'll spend my life in jail."

Oh Alyssa, what you would think of me if you knew what I've done with my life.

"Got a wife in Chino, babe,

and one in Cherokee.

The first one says she's got my child,

But it don't look like me.

Set out runnin' but I take my time.

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.

If I get home before daylight,

I just might get some sleep tonight."

Alyssa was the only child I would ever need, and I loved her in a more amazing way than I could ever love some woman in 'Cherokee.' I looked at the sky and wondered if the sun would ever rise and put an end to this night.

"You can borrow from the devil

You can borrow from a friend

The devil'll loan ya twenty

But your friend got only ten"

No friend could ever give me what I needed from my 'devil.'