Annotated lyrics for The Hold Steady song 'Heavy Covenant' - With the wine glass on the microwave / And the ashtray in the kitchenette / I could tell that it was difficult / To bring that sort of subject up / It was tough to bring the subject up / Sleeper city on a power play / In the garden with a day to spare / And if you know the perfect words to say / You can get it almost anywhere / That's a pretty heavy covenant / To make with someone powerless / He said he'll ask about that other stuff / If you're still prepared to pay for it / I know the perfect place to go / Slide your little phone into the airplane mode / Motel Mariposa / A little south of downtown on the frontage road / Seeing stories in the the scorch marks / Hearing bass lines in the buzzing of the lights / Call down to the desk and say we're going to need another night / We're gonna to stay a second night / I sell software made for offices / It increases their efficiency / Hospitals and local governments / It's a pretty heavy covenant / In the taxi to the airport / I was hoping for Tucson around ten / Staring at the skyline / Then right back at my phone to find a friend / It seems a single body is a couple different people in this one life / I'm sorry but my meeting got delayed / I'm gonna to be another night / First I watched him play his instrument / A Resonator with a missing string / Then I asked him about the songs he did / How he decides what songs he's gonna sing / Then I asked if I could shake his hand / And I palmed him almost forty bucks / Then I asked about the other stuff / With the wine glass on the microwave / The ashtray in the kitchenette / I could tell that it was difficult / Sleeper city with the underplay / You can get it almost anywhere / If you know the perfect words to say / That's a pretty heavy covenant / To make with someone powerless / He said he'll ask about that other stuff / Met a guy in up in some music club / Gave him almost almost forty bucks / To make it safe to bring the subject up / 'Cause it's tough to bring the subject up / 'Cause it's tough to bring the subject up / It's a pretty heavy covenant