cap & gown in purple & gold you're 22 years old & a woman now you're told Aunt Beth & Charlie cut a check for the graduating niece & you marked your independence with a signature on a lease but home was a photograph you taped to your wall it's gonna be a cold white Christmas in St Paul
beer for breakfast who's gonna scold you've got your early hours dulled by the cigarettes you rolled second shift as a fry cook that's your holiday in grease & you trudge to work through the snow in a coat down to your knees & you linger at the twinkle lights as you pass by the mall & count the days to a cold white Christmas in St Paul
feather down the nights get so cold & you ignore the smell of mold as you smooth out the folds when you're on your own you've got no one to please in a Minnesota city just as bare & as mean as the winter trees but you'll be damned if you're the one making collect calls on a cold white Christmas in St Paul yeah it's a cold white Christmas in St Paul