Fail Hard to Regain

Well, once I knew a railway girl
Her age was 17
I gave her all I had to give
But the baggage of my dreamsStole me from the games we played
Scorned me for my mask
And if she's gone she lingers on
I beg you please don't ask'Twas on a dark March evening
Southbound I did ride
My head was out the window
When I found her at my sideAsked where I was goin' to
I told but where I came
For the jails in which I've done my time
I fail hard to regainDark girl, dark girl it kills me so
To watch you so afraid
You know that you've been real to those
Whom realness should be paidHer eyes gone wide, "Alive!" she cried
"Does pleasure ever last?"
We live to see but patiently
I beg you please don't askShe took me in despite my sins
Fed me tea and such
And as she fell just like a child
I crumbled 'neath her touchI held my breath and feared to weep
For the fragments of my brain
See, each day's but a moment that
I fail hard to regainBut as it goes the fiddler throws
Our values to the street
Whole world's pain stains his gaze
Impatience in his feetAnd captives of this paltry trade
We curse our mortal task
Forgive us though, we all must go
And where to please don't askAnd now I am a misspent man
Who knows not where he's been
And oh-so-sapped with sufferin'
The worst is yet unseenRenounce myself for further wealth
I take each breath in vain
Still haunted by that railway girl
I fail hard to regain