Lyrics

  • You’re on your own, clinging to a script that you’ve gone off again.
    Paging through to see where you went wrong again.
    You never let it die.

    I come along.
    Never part my lips to say an idle word.
    But you can’t rest unless you’re my entire world.
    And you never let it die.

    You want me to say how much I need you,
    but I don’t really see the need to.
    You want me to hold you like he held you,
    but isn’t he the one that fell through?
    I just want to be the one you run to.
    So shut up and let me love you.

    You beg for dawn.
    The air you push is bitter, but I bite my tongue. 
    As fading night replaces all our brighter suns,
    you never let it die.

    We blunder on.
    You’re losing hope that I can be your chosen one.
    If you can’t see what I can’t say is shown and done,
    then you’ll never let it die.

    I don’t know why I could never bring myself to say it.
    I don’t know how we wound up in this game we’re playing.
    I know I want you.

  • Darling, when we're older we won't ever have to worry about the things we worry about now.
    I've got a chance to fix it all.

    Down on the docks, I heard them whispering a fury about a freighter with a hole in the bow.
    And there’s a plan to take the haul.

    But these broken bones may never heal again
    These broken bones may never mend

    I'll wait for his shift
    Go in through the guardhouse
    The bleary-eyed old watchman is never awake

    Got a man on the ship
    There to cart all the loot out
    The stevedores are in for a third of the take
    And I don't think they're onto me

    There comes a time to take the things you're owed

    From down in the hold
    I hear bedlam and boot heels
    My my callow young accomplice is diming me out

    Oh, all our precious plans and wishes
    Are nothing more than body English
    We're drunken little giants boxing the clouds
    I love you, but they'll never let me go

    I know that you want it to be
    The way I said it would be
    And I'm wrong for every lie I've ever told
    The city's going to claim another life
    As they watch it unfold with a passing spite that they save for my kind

    I love you, but they'll never let me go
    Please let me go
    Let me go!

  • You’ve got a way of talking

    I’ve got a way of holding in

    Back to the start again

    Things I should say more often
    
Get bottled up to pour like gin

    Back to the start again

    And when you see me

    Am I a shadow in your night?

    When I look into your eyes

    Why do they burn so big and bright?

    Oh, dreams of empire

    Up from the solid South and

    In from the wide Missouri plains
    
Back to the start again

    Borne high on dusky backs and
    
Laid low in everlasting shame

    Back to the start again

    And when you see me
    
Am I the specter on your glass?
    
Why do you turn your gaze away?
    
Am I the visage of your past?

    Oh, dreams of empire

  • Father said, "You best go out and play
    ”But it's such, such, such a cloudy day.
    Mustn't let those things stand in your way.
    Ere tomorrow you'll be dreaming

    I saw the fire come down the mountainside,
    Not the kind of life I'd give my children.
    I saw the fire come down the mountainside,
    Not the kind of life I'd wish on

    You know you'll never even feel a sting.
    Not a burning, not a tingle, not a thing.
    And time is such an ordinary king.
    Ere tomorrow you'll be dreaming.

    I saw the fire come down the mountainside,
    Not the kind of life I'd give my children.
    I saw the fire come down the mountainside.
    Not the kind of life I’d…

  • I beat a braided rhythm on the seat
    I'm on the scent of something luminous and frightening
    Run up your colors, be the thing you couldn't
    Let us see, are we as civil in the breaking as the binding?

    When the fever breaks, I hope you make a go of it
    When the fever shakes, I hope it doesn't leave you cold

    Don't you wake up wondering how to keep this going?
    Don't you wonder how in the world we made it out so far?
    Don't you wake up wondering how to keep this going?
    Don't you wander? Hound the world. We made it out, so…

    I beat a less original retreat
    If I'm unbloodied by the blows of those who'd spite me
    But if they cut me deep, I'll be the liar, be the thief,
    I'll be the animal. You'll taste it when you bite me.

    When my fire fades, I hope I've made go of it
    When my part is played, I hope I never...
    I take it back now.
    I want to hide all the seams
    I bit the bullet and I choked it, sanguine, down
    I’m going to find a release
    You take the high, I take the low road
    I take the high, you take the low road
    Freight trains crashing

    Don't you wake up wondering how to keep this going?
    Don't you wonder how in the world we made it out so far?
    Don't you wake up wondering how you keep this going?
    Don't you wander? Hound the world. We made it out so far.

  • I’ve been seeing the world through a dead man’s eyes
    And when I laid me down, laid me down
    I dared not rise
    But then I noticed that I’d been watching myself from the car outside
    And so to bring me round
    I took me down a long dark ride
    That’s where I found you at

    James Crow, come and tell me what you know
    James Crow, you’re a devil in a daydream
    James Crow, can you walk it for me, slow?
    Singing “take it all back now! take it all back now!”

    James Crow, come and tell me what you know
    James Crow, you’re a devil in a daydream
    James Crow, will you break it to me slow?
    Singing “take it all back now! take it all back now!”

    You’ve been selling the world on a dead man’s lies
    The kind that won’t decay or fade away
    Or pass in time

    I play the scientific, I can’t be tamed
    You pray to a religion that can’t be named
    But all I really want is to crawl back in my body and be
    Free

    James Crow, come and tell me what you know
    James Crow, you’re a devil in a daydream
    James Crow, can you walk it for me, slow?
    Singing “take it all back now! take it all back now!”

    James Crow, come and tell me what you know
    James Crow, you’re a devil in a daydream
    James Crow, will you break it to me slow?
    Singing “take it all back now! take it all back now!”

    Is there a fever worse than faith?
    When you know what you’ve lost
    Cause it’s gone from the beginning
    And I can feel it in the way that you are when you’re on

  • Tired people
    Fired people
    Situation’s dire, people

    Ditch your chains and find your people
    I love my entire people
    Never spy a finer people
    Ever wonder why our people
    Mystify, inspire people
    [Time to take them higher]

    Oh, lord
    Can’t hardly tell what’s left to show, lord
    You’ve got to tell us where to go, lord
    You’ve got to tell us what to do with the higher ground

    If I get my payback, I won’t think twice
    If we survive, you better hide, better run for your life
    It’s been lifetimes locked up inside
    So if I get my payback better

    You better pray, better pray to your lord
    Better pray, better pray we won’t
    ’Cause the prey don’t stay down long
    Better pray, better pray we don’t

    Don’t muck with the mired people
    Quick to spot a liar people
    Sell it to the buyer people
    Peppy gentrifier people
    Haute couture attire people
    Hostile occupiers put a lien on the higher ground

    (Don’t back down)

    If I get my payback, I won’t think twice
    If we survive, you better hide, better run for your life
    It’s been lifetimes locked up insideSo if I get my payback better

    You better pray, better pray to your lord
    Better pray, better pray we won’t
    ’Cause the prey don’t stay down long
    Better pray, better pray we don’t

  • Something simple
    Trickles in through
    Data on demand

    Sacred texts and
    Jealous exes
    Throbbing in your hand

    A meditation on the vainest thought you know

    Fear and loathing
    Beer and clothing
    Shoot it up your veins

    Hallelujah
    What’s it to you?
    Give your man the reins

    A revelation from the palest god you know

    You think you’ve made it but you’re lost, boys
    You never run out of ways to take it from us
    That doesn’t scare me at all
    You’re just a number they call

    Wall or border
    Law and order
    In a kevlar vest

    Sound and picture
    How’d it miss you?
    Strapped across your chest

    A recitation of the darkest deeds you own

    Heavy mist and
    Revving pistons
    On your way back home

    Murder disco
    Monte Cristo
    We’re serving payback cold

    A visitation on the calmest street you know well

    You think you’ve made it but you’re lost, boys
    You never run out of ways to take it from us
    That doesn’t scare me at all
    You’re just a number they call

    You think you’ve made it but you’re lost, boys
    You never run out of ways to stay above us
    That doesn’t scare me at all
    Good dogs will run when they’re called

    /

    These are the nights when I’m a man outrun
    When I’m gnawing at my skin
    Things I would die if I could have undone
    Seem to start each day again
    Is there a song to set the captive free
    Or to dull her waking pain?
    Am I somebody that I should be?
    Can you make it plain?

    Please, it’s a long way out if you go it on your own
    Please, know you won’t get out if you’re going

  • I told a stranger everything about you
    I tried to stop it but I just can't hold it in
    It's like there's something lurking in my body
    I don't believe I'll ever get it out again

    I think I've fallen in love on you
    I think it's tearing me up, mon dieu

    She's my mate
    She's my lady
    She's my mate
    She's my baby

    I think I've fallen
    I think I've fallen on you

    So there's a party and I said I'd make it
    But I don't ever want to leave this room again
    When I could lay here with my best friend naked
    Why would I wander through a lonely world with them?

    Plant me like a seed or roll me in your river
    Hold me in your arms
    I long to be delivered
    Climb me like a tree and drown me like a lover
    Show me the terrain you want me to discover

    She's my mate
    She's my lady
    She's my mate
    She's my baby

  • When I wake up, I feel like an island
    Another day, another lie
    And I long so much for your mainland
    And the teeming shores I’ve long since left behind

    I have a dream that I stand by the slips of your towering ships
    They never go my way
    You were never one to mind your halo

    And when I see you, you’re sailing again on a westerly wind
    That never blows my way
    How am I supposed make it when I’m stranded in the ocean?

    When I wake up, I feel like a dying man
    And all my life’s a length of rope
    Every inch of me frays and I’m knotted
    From the strain of years spent holding onto hope

    And, somewhere they never bothered to go, we stood battered and lonely,
    Screaming, “Look my way!”
    You were never one to cry and wait, though
    You were never one to cry and wait, though

    So should I beg for a mystical sign to make up for the time I know I’ve thrown away
    How was I supposed to find you when I’m stranded in the ocean?

  • Come numb
    Come dumb
    Come young
    Come rain
    Come sun
    Come sunken-eyed and half-aware

    Just point the magnet at me, man
    Let’s get some money
    We can make it fair

    I could be the call to change your life
    Cause you’ve been on the run since ’95

    You’re nobody’s favourite one
    You’re nobody’s favourite

    Say something cool
    Say something cool, but keep it textual
    Well, that’s a mood.
    So, what’s the move?
    She’s standing next to you

    Holy water
    Holy water or a shot of ginger ale
    I’ve been drinking from wishing wells
    Hoping it’ll change my lot
    (But it’s not)

    You’re nobody’s favourite one
    You’re nobody’s favourite

    I had a dream this was all lit up
    But the luster’s fading
    I had a dream this was all I want
    But the lust is waning
    I had a dream this was all there was

    You’re nobody’s favourite one
    You’re nobody’s favourite

  • Now I've done what you asked me
    Will you stay?
    Now I've done as you asked me
    Can I stay here?

    You know I never want to see
    Never want to see you alone again
    Because I never want to be
    Never want to see me alone

    I was born with my eyes wide open
    And I won't start hoping on a star right now
    You try to tempt me with your store-bought passion
    But your forethought flashes in the dark
    Somehow we hurt each other for the selfsame reasons
    There's a sad, strange treason in the heart
    And you say you will, but you know you'll never move from where you are

    I was young and un-emptied
    Unafraid
    I was young and you bent me
    To your way here
    I get the feeling that you're not feeling that you've got me alone again
    And if you're feeling that I'm not feeling it, I'm not coming home

    I was born with my eyes wide open
    And I won't start hoping on a star right now
    You try to tempt me with your store-bought passion
    But your forethought flashes in the dark
    Somehow we hurt each other for the selfsame reasons
    There's a sad, strange treason in the heart
    And you say you will, but you know you'll never move from where you are

    She's a downhearted dancer
    But she taught me a lesson
    Because if we are the answer
    Then you've asked the wrong question

  • Get used to wanting
    Get used to needing
    Get used to saying
    I used to see him
    Things never did quite go your way oh ay oh
    Don’t be the one I throw away oh ay oh
    Go on and leave me

    All alone again. Solo.

    You feel it on me
    A kind of pleading
    Can’t help but want me
    Can’t help you’re leaving
    I’ve always had this gravity ah ay oh
    Beautiful things just crash to me ah ay oh
    Before they violently sky away

    All alone again. Solo.

  • They only came to see the park at night
    They only brought the torches for the light
    They only think we’re all just too uptight
    And everybody knows they’ve got the right

    Cold passions
    Roam in your factions
    No taste for facts
    The old days are back
    They’re not long gone, whenever they go

    Pain is just a pastime here below
    Is this the last time? Here we go
    They don’t want to know
    To get in the black
    Get out the black
    And on with the show

    It doesn’t matter how far down he slides
    He always seems to keep them by his side
    So re-spark the lost, ancient art
    Of prizing apart the conman and mark
    They’re not long gone, wherever they go

    Pain is just a pastime here below
    Is this the last time? Here we go
    They don’t want to know
    To get in the black
    Get out the black
    And on with the show

  • Gold. Ice. Silk. Blood.
    Strain. Fight. Scream. Curse.
    Goad. Try, but you’re never gonna get my heart.

    Word. Will. Flesh. Trust.
    Wound. Charm. Sweat. Burst.
    Heal. Kill. You’re never gonna get my heart.

    And I wish I had the words to say to show you
    And I wish I knew the way back where we came
    But you’ll never know
    No, you’ll never know how much I long to find a way to love again
    But the longing doesn’t end and you’re never gonna get my heart

    Five walls. Rough-hewn.
    Cats call. Blush. Swoon.
    Night falls. You’re never gonna get my heart.

    Bold signs. Young skin.
    Fat eyes. Dine-in.
    Fresh lies, but you’re never gonna get my heart.

    And I wish I had the words to say to show you
    And I wish I knew the way back where we came
    But you’ll never know
    No, you’ll never know how much I long to find a way to love again
    But the longing doesn’t end and you’re never gonna get my heart

  • I am all a plate glass window.
    Looking through me every day.
    In the night, I'm all reflection.
    You were, I was, you see, you saw, you say.

    In my mirrored light you're taller.
    The summer sun has warped my pane.
    If I brought you true perspective,
    You'd close the blinds and leave me cold again.

    I await the dread disaster,
    Some uncommon tragedy.
    Don't you tell me it can't happen,
    Cause once it does, the odds don't mean a thing

    Though the hands are hardly holy,
    Pilgrims come to kiss the ring.
    But the taste of gold eludes them
    And such a shame they came from all that way.

    What am I here for? I never felt like I knew.

    What is this unkind perversion?
    Why the sudden change of pace?Could it be that we're all destined
    To cloy, to claw, to cool, to walk away?

    You'll awake to crystal mornings,
    Splintered shadows on your face.
    All my cracks and complications
    Will speed me on the saddest fall from grace.

    What am I here for? I never felt like I knew.

    You were never once a liar
    But you choose the truth you tell
    Was it all some grand illusion?
    Does fire ever burn inside that shell?

    Offer me no empty solace.
    Keep your memories to yourself.
    Treat me with that cool precision
    You made me come to know so very well.

  • Breath chasing breath
    Our steps start locking
    There’s no time for talking
    No time for talking
    They’ll track us down if they see you got away

    Right pacing left
    Backroads to walk
    If we just reach the crossing
    Must reach the crossing
    Before this county sees the light of day

    I know the sight of things at war within your head.
    Will the victor be the passion or the name that you've abandoned?
    But maybe I'll help you lighten up the load that's on your head
    I'll be patient. I'll be steady.
    I'll be waiting. I’m already saying,
    "Tell me what you want me to be."

    Breath chasing breath
    There’s no time for talking
    Our heartbeats are knocking
    Heartbeats are knocking
    By now, they’ll all have heard you got away

    Life pacing death
    Backroads clocking
    Just passed the crossing
    Rushed past the crossing
    We can’t turn back, no matter what they say

    I hear the clatter of their calls within your head
    “He’s a villain!”
    “You’re a baby!”
    “Are you happy?”
    “Is he crazy?”
    But maybe I'll lean a ladder up the walls within in your head
    Put the old world in the rearview
    I’m riding right here with you, saying,
    “Tell me what you want me to be.”

  • I was a shade off right
    But over time
    I drifted miles and miles

    You must have left your mind
    To think that I
    Would be the place to hide

    All of our plans and
    Misunderstandings
    This kind of thing is
    Just too demanding
    I never said to look to me to be the one that you rely on.
    No

    What good could come of
    This wasted motion,
    All of your time, and
    Misplaced devotion?
    I never said to look to me to be the one that you rely on

    And I know you wonder
    Why I let you come so far oh
    You won’t believe me if I tell you
    You won’t believe me if I tell you
    How I know what comes tomorrow
    You won’t believe me if I tell you
    You won’t believe me if I tell you

    I stayed awake all night
    To stem the tide
    The tide of rising doubts

    I was afraid I’d find
    The trouble high
    On the horizon now

    How can we run?
    I’m still trying to stand
    And I’ll be the one
    Who ends up abandoned
    I don’t know when I came to be the kind you have to keep an eye on
    No

    What good could come of
    This wasted motion,
    All of your time, and
    Misplaced devotion?
    It wasn’t fair to look to me to be the one you could rely on

    And I know you wonder
    Why I let you come so far oh
    You won’t believe me if I tell you
    You'll only leave me if I tell you
    How I know what comes tomorrow
    You won’t believe me if I tell you
    You won’t believe me if I tell you

    You claim you came for love
    Convince me.

  • Idolate in the sun
    Turn half-formed prayers into sound
    Before your gods wear out

    Point your gaze like a gun
    When half-heart kings wear the crowns
    Don’t you don’t burn it down?

    Your blessed birthright is a devil’s debt renamed
    But from our youngest days, we’ve heard you say
    “Won’t pay, don’t know, don’t owe”

    Cooler than the coroner
    Cleaner than the fucking board of health
    We tried to warn you
    Who’s around the corner

    Tell me your truest lie
    I’m all out of patience
    Cause even the bluest eye
    Can see the arrangement
    Now
    So we’ve got to burn it down

    Comparison
    It’s embarrassing
    Lockup for crack rock
    But treatment for heroin?
    They’re scared of him
    They’re just daring him
    Model American
    Bottle of paraffin
    Now
    I’m about to burn it down

  • And when it started we were tongue-tied, taken, rather fond of being carried alight
    And when we part, it's such an odd sensation. It's a love like being buried alive

    Say, say morning, yeah I know the day is forming, but we haven't quite yet finished our night
    Say, say gloaming, now before you get to roaming, won't you stay a spell here stemming the tide?

    The end of time

    And when we landed we were shell-shocked, shaken. There's a glassy look of doubt in your eyes
    No more abandon, just a plea for patience, while I slowly burn away my disguise
    Say, say worry, never waited, never hurried. Did I hope to have my gray matter mined?
    Say, say glory, I'm a cautionary story. If he stares at me the sun'll go blind

    The end of time

    When it comes for me, desire, I'm a wooden man and you throw me onto the pyre
    Will you watch me burn? Are you tired?
    I'm all alone

  • Stop. Wait. Just stand there.
    Not one step closer.
    Eyes on me.
    I really want to know your name.

    Saw you coming down the avenue,
    I know you know what’s on my mind.
    I came here with my girl Victoria.
    I really think you’re just her type.
    And you don’t have to say a word to me,
    As long as you don’t waste my time.
    You know we only want what’s best for you.
    We only want to take a ride.

    Put both hands on her.
    Spread your legs wider.
    Ran your name.
    I really want to get you inside her.

    Saw you coming down the avenue,
    I know you know what’s on my mind.
    I came here with my girl Victoria.
    I really think you’re just her type.
    And you don’t have to say a word to me,
    As long as you don’t waste my time.
    You know we only want what’s left of you.
    We only want to take a ride.

    But you’re not enough.
    No, you’re not enough.
    There’s no stopping her, My Victoria.
    Said you’re not enough.
    No, you’re not enough.
    Once I start her up, It’s me and my Victoria.

    They want all of us in Victorias.

  • You’ve crawled across my mind and shaped my will

    Your every curve that broke me brakes me still
    You sigh,
“I’ll wait for you to say you’re sorry.

    I’ll wait for you to say ‘come home’.”
The devil that I know, you know I won’t.
I want you in the worst way

    But the same dreams always haunt me

    Down the same streets always walking

    Out the same beat always knocking

    Won’t you save me? Oh

    Late night, feeling out the time
    Take you back to mine
    Begging can we please do that

    Late light,
    Tracing every line
    Waking up to find
    I can only dream like that

    Make right,
    Take it as a sign
    Take it off your mind
    Devil, I can see through that

    Don’t wait for me to say “come home”
    Don’t wait for me

    Cause the same dreams always haunt me
    Down the same streets always walking
    Out the same beat always knocking
    Won’t you save me?
    Oh, I want you in the worst way

  • You see the nation’s gaping maw
    each time it yawns
    away the latest outrage

    Home is a sarlacc pit

    Brutes aping men
    making beasts out of men
    women, children caged
    by maps
    by debt
    by comfort
    by razor wire
    by ‘the way things are’

    You can’t unsee it
    Your eyes are hot and you’re poured out
    burning for want of more than indignation

    But, always, you cool

    and the gleaming screens
    remind you
    how good it is
    to be young and dying in
    The Occident Supreme™.
    All ivory and brushed aluminum.
    Preening. Posing. Grinning.
    Denuding the earth.

    Still. Everywhere,
    Between Mammon’s temples and the shelter of the overpass.
    Between present and prelude.
    Between us and other.
    Between the last gang of souls and the next.
    Between my coursing blood and yours.

    There is no frontier.

  • Are you certain? Are you whole? Are you warm? Are you safe?
    Are you hedging your bets with the time that you borrow today?
    Tomorrow. It's a fiction, a vapor, a shade
    It's the hitch in your step when you're walking alone by a grave

    All your life
    All your life you've been wondering
    Who it is you're supposed to be
    What is you're supposed to see
    All your life
    All your life you've been waiting
    I've got news for you, Simone
    The future isn't home

    Are you folding? Are you bolting or toning it down?
    After all that it cost are you finally running aground?
    You said you had it coming
    You never gave up until now, with all the people gathered round

    All my life
    All my life I've been wondering
    Who it is I'm supposed to be
    What is I'm supposed to see
    All my life
    All my life I've been waiting
    I've got news for you, Simone
    The future isn't home