You ask me what I see beyond the fence line
Where the grass turned grey last spring
I tell you nothing grows there anymore
The air tastes like metal on my tongue

Do you remember when we used to walk
Through those fields before they built the plant
Now the birds don't come back
And the river runs a different color

The dust settles
(Oh, it settles down)
On everything we used to love
The dust settles
(La, la, la)
And there's no washing it away

You're packing up your things again
But I can't bring myself to leave
This place that poisoned us slowly
While we slept and dreamed of better days

The children from the eastern district
They don't play outside much now
Their mothers keep the windows closed
Even when the heat becomes unbearable

The dust settles
(Oh, it settles down)
On everything we used to love
The dust settles
(La, la, la)
And there's no washing it away

I watch you fold your clothes into boxes
Your hands shake like autumn leaves
We both know what the doctor said
About the test results from last week

The evacuation notice came this morning
But some of us are staying put
What's the point of running now
When it's already inside our bones

You tell me there's still time to start over
In some city far from here
But I can feel it in my chest
This slow burning that won't quit

The dust settles
(Oh, it settles down)
On everything we used to love
The dust settles
(La, la, la)
On you and me
The dust settles
(It settles down)
And there's no washing it away
(No washing it away)