Released: August 23, 2013
The early bird catches the worm, I have worms in mousetraps, baby
I did something bad, I’m not allowed to go outside anymore
I can only be awake at night for the next year of my life
In the freshly dug earth in front of the cabin
I feel so haunted
Seeing the world in petals, everything made of roses
I know cause when I close my eyes I see red spots
Seeing the world in petals, everything made of roses
I know cause when I close my eyes I see red spots
I feel so haunted
Is there some rule that guys can never talk about everything
They just watch the girls go by
How are you tonight? Just look straight ahead
Are you still in school?
Promise me you’ll go inside when I leave
I don’t want you hanging around
Please don’t fight, please don’t argue
I’m just looking out for you
There’s a crack in my window, all the peeping toms come and peep
Whenever I’m in the nude, they all line up down the streets
No one seems to notice, no one seems to care
It doesn’t really matter, I’ll just put on my underwear
I’m getting haunted
I know I'm drunk again and I've said enough for the night
but there's a skin I'd like to steal
a house to sleep in where I won't have bad dreams
but I have so much to fear
get some exercise, get me exorcised
but do we ever really heal?
These problems are familiar, these songs that I've been singing
for God, it feels like years
Promise me you’ll go inside when I leave
I don’t want you hanging around
Please don’t fight, please don’t argue
I’m just looking out for you
I feel so haunted
The early bird catches the worm...and I have...worms in fishhooks...and dogs in dogtraps...and cats in cattraps. But baby, I still feel like I can't get outta something....
If I stacked up all the hours I wasted I could climb straight to heaven
We can’t afford your depression anymore
We can’t afford this depression anymore
Every minute that we spend
There is something to break down for
So just change key
Keep your mind on me
You’ve got a lot to live for
You’ve got a lot to go for
We can share a room, share a bed, save rent as cellmates
You’d think it was a crime to be alive (that’s your depression talking)
We’re living in squalor
That’s the name of this house
This house is called squalor by all
There’s a door broken somewhere but I never can remember quite where
We can’t afford our depression anymore
We can’t afford this depression anymore
How can we ever make a living?
Our job is trying not to die
So just change key
Keep your mind on me
You’ve got a lot to live for
You’ve got a lot to go for
We’d be starving artists if we were artists
But we won’t let ourselves become the art (no we’ll never sink that low)
Remember when we made jokes?
Now we’re too poor for laughter
No, fuck it, we’re too poor to be serious
So make me laugh again
We can’t afford my depression anymore
We can’t afford this depression anymore
Every minute someone else
Is having a better time than us babe
So just change key
Keep your mind on me
You’ve got a lot to live for
You’ve got a lot to go for
I’ve seen some things that I won’t forget
Ashtray carpets and starving pets
If it’s out of our hands then we’d better regret
We spent the rest on cigarettes
I don’t know how to make you happy
I was thinking of ways I could get you
Now I’m thinking of ways to forget you
I was finished the minute I let you in my bed
I stayed up late bitching
About being awake
Until you said “For God’s sake”
That’s what you said
I don’t want a merry Christmas
I don’t want these naked pictures
That you took under some fictional name
I don’t want to lie awake thinking
“oh, is that what that was about?”
Because everything falls into place
So late so late but I gotta – wanna figure it out
Now that I got you
I won’t get nothing out of you no more
A couple hours, yeah, it was good
I’d leave by fire escape if I could
But you’re in my home, I took you here myself
And you came on your own
Into my unknown
Did you do it for me alone or your own health?
I wanted you tonight
Pretty soon it must get light
Just when I thought I might sleep some more
I listened to you sleep talking closed
my eyes and started nodding
When someone started knocking on the door
(Where’s the drum?
Where are the drums?)
It’s not going to happen
It’s not going to
It’s not going to work out
I know we had plans to
It’s not going to happen
It’s not going to
It’s not going to work out
Now that I know you
No no no no no no no no
Learned to turn the light off
After I jerked off, I opened my eyes and saw nothing
A line of light underneath the door was all that I needed
A house without a piano
Just a stereo
I used to play but now I’ve
Got this stereo
You brought it with you when you moved in
So we would never be alone
Always something in the background
And I’m always almost punched
But I escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And we’re always almost over
But then we wake up
And it’s already one o’clock
And I hope I can change
I hope I can change
But oh my god
It’s so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
(not our fault that the cops are assholes)
Forte without piano
Never stop complaining
It’s what I love about you
You never stop complaining
Next step is buckets out
When we start raining
Let’s go out tonight
Because our home is falling apart
And you’re always almost punched
But you escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And we’re always almost over
But then we wake up
And it’s already two o’clock
And I hope I can change
People are dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It’s so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
(Remember when I made jokes?
The joke’s on you, fucker,
I never made any jokes
I meant every word)
If home is where I go to die
If home is where I go to die
And we’re always almost punched
But we escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And I’m always almost sober
By the time I have to drive you back home
And we’re always almost over
And then we are
And I hope I can change
I am dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It’s so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
Mama said all your dreams will come true
If you sleep in the right bed
Tell me what time it is
I have been working on my plan
I’m gonna fall in love forever
Won’t you tell me what time it is?
How can wood live longer than me?
How can glass live longer than me
When it breaks so easily?
What are you supposed to do after sex if you don’t smoke?
How can you know what money tastes like if you’re broke?
I’m not responsible for what happens after this song
Why do you think mine are always so long?
Mmm, gimme that afterglow
I’ve got to be content with what I’ve got
I know my soul must have lost its shine
But there must still be time
I still feel fine, ‘cept when I don’t
Pray to the lord at every temptation
Just 1 More, the call letters of my station
And I try to live right, I try to keep sober
Try to keep my friends close and keep myself closer
But I break so easily
What are you supposed to do after sex if you don’t smoke?
How can you know what money tastes like if you’re broke?
I’m not responsible for what happens after this song
Why do you think mine are always so long?
Mmm, gimme that afterglow
I’ve got to be content with what I’ve got
Mmm, gimme the afterglow
I’ve got to be content not knowing what time it is
No theme song will greet my feet on the street
No credits sequence will rock me to sleep
So hold me in your arms cause if there’s one thing in the world
That I don’t want to end, it’s you
Do you want an accident to happen?
Don’t think I don’t know what you’re asking for
You think that I’m in love, punk
You’ve been a punk since the day you were born
I’ve never been good with weapons
But you want me to teach you with my bare hands
I really liked your solo album, but, punk,
Don’t think I want to be in your band
Cause you’re in love with jerks
And I’m not confident
I get concerned when accidents are happening
Hate is raining down like piss
Piercing my ears, yeah you’re out for blood, punk
Don’t think I want to listen to this
Careful with the love police!
Maybe sunglasses to cover the bruises
Maybe a hole in a bathroom stall
Maybe somebody that you’re thinking of, punk
Ain’t thinking about you at all
Cause you’re in love with jerks
And I’m not confident
I wanna be your jerk
Cause you in love with jerks
Revival of the jerks
You waste your life on jerks
Lying on the floor
Shattered ceramics
There was so much of you to pick up
Halloween plans
Smashed by September
There were so many pieces to pick up on
On the floor
You were so connected
To the man sleeping under the table
On the other side of the continent
when you lost your content
A stillborn beauty
Is ghosting around in my head
Your busted brains
I would tenderly tuck into bed
Little dishcloth in a tumbling dryer
Little washcloth in a tumbling dryer
Maybe your parents gave you a Lego set in middle school
Maybe the kids in class smashed it to pieces
Maybe they poured glue on your pet tarantulas
Maybe they got stuck to each other and tore themselves apart
I want my girls to save me
Want them to burst in when the dagger’s at my neck
I want my love to redeem me, let these killers finally see me
I feel it growing in me at the brink of death
Summon Doraemon
Protector of innocents
If you let them see you naked
You can get a ride home
(Danae receiving Jupiter in a shower of sulphuric acid)
A thief
(some young god)
Stole the ending to this book
(tore the canvas into shreds)
And left us gibberish
(bleeding paint)
Ancient Greek letters
(call you saint for a reason)
Just another crossed out character
I’ll scatter like birds
I’ll go everywhere
[what Joe said:]
I’m not hung up on you anymore, but here’s why I hung up
behind every great love story lies a great suicide
you can't give yourself completely and keep the man inside
all the sentences I climbed halfway
saw the heights of what I wanted to say
and crawled from word to word
trying to get back down
the unending realization that it's never gonna end
I spend half the day exhaling and the other half holding my breath
Cause living underwater was never my strength
In the depths you reside, the sun never sinks
So let’s float to the bottom for one final drink
There’s time for one more tonight
it’s time to forget while the forgetting’s good
I’ll burn all the promises I carved out of your woulds
you said won't you come into arm's reach
abandon your clothes and modes of speech
an infant reborn you shall be
helpless and afraid
I’m waving goodbye every time you go to the store
I hope you break your hand the next time you slam the door
Because I burned my fingers every night
When your own shaking hands wouldn’t give you a light
And I said “Jesus Christ, my parents were right
I never should’ve smoked you out”
I’d hate to amputate this artificial limb
But staring at you, my glass eyes are growing dim
I can’t even blame you for looking so smug
I have to admit you’re a hell of a drug
So pack up the boxes, roll me up with the rug
I’m not moving out, I’m just moving
(Kissed) I kissed you, yes, but never on the mouth
(masochist) you held the north while I conquered the south
but I don't want a territorial breach
so at the edge of the bed we'll meet
and I want you to fuck me in your sleep
it's the only way I'll know that you love me
(cause there's always gotta be a new angle)
Guns are loaded with silver bullets tonight
But it’s useless, you kept me waiting until it was light
But you can’t go out the way you came in
In the arms of someone unaware of your sins
Because I’ve been recording this whole fucking thing
Now you can never use the same chord changes again
(The first time was too fast
The second time was just sad)
If you’re wondering why I’m still willing to take the fall
If I’m not getting fucked over, I’m not getting fucked at all
But I never asked for immunity
That’s the difference between you and me
All I wanted was someone who was just like me
And I hate myself for that
It’s getting hard to talk about the past
When you’ve copyrighted the present, no questions asked
You can do whatever you want with my name
But my body’s never been public domain
So if you’re looking for somebody to blame
Blame Walt Disney Studios
I remember, I was walking around outside, talking to you on the phone
We were both avoiding the parties we attended alone
And I looked up at the drunken moon
It was round and it was grey and it looked like the moon
And I said “at least we’ve both got the moon”
And you said “I’m inside”
so I’ll try loving again
and you’ll try living alone
and we’ll meet at the end of this lifetime
and compare notes
(if bitterness is all that I have left
I’ll be better at being bitter than anybody else)
[what Joe’s Baby said:]
I hate your receptionist
She looks at me like I’m retarded
When I’m filling out your forms
I see your form behind the frosted glass
But she says that you’re not there
I’ll have to be content to wait
If you felt some kind of stirring
Against interpretation
Why write these songs at all?
Why not become didactic
Tell everyone on the planet
In plain English what you are
But I am the gentle cannibal
I promise to eat you softly
You won’t notice a thing
(Mariamme)
you’re taking advice from Lady Macbeth
(William, one shot two shots)
when it’s out of your hands, you try to forget
Mariamme, hold me tight
I still wish you hadn’t listened to me
I ain’t been right since the execution
(if I could transfer your desires into belongings and then snoop through your belongings, you know I’d do it in a second)
William, one shot two shots
Whoever you are, just hold me tight
I lost my love, my life, that -
All I know is, one of us was supposed to kill the other
Isn’t that what they mean when they say ‘lovers’?
But murder is dirty, and peace comes cheap
So here’s my new number, tell me when you’re free
[the conclusion:]
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river
Sweet Maria, one leg out the window
Waiting to escape by light of moon
Can I spend a little longer with the other?
Does it have to run so soon?
Little Claudia, I can’t speak your language
And I don’t mean to be unkind
But when you put my hand upon your belly
I don’t want to know what’s on your mind
And you, my dear, the fairest of the blossoms
Though you only bloom at night
You’re at my side in sports and shorts in daytime
Dear Alex, let our love lie in the light
My mother used to say
You gotta find somewhere to stay
And the more you love, the more you say goodbye
Well I can’t say she was wrong
And my love for you is strong
But I’m afraid I must be on, goodbye love
Goodbye love, goodbye love, goodbye love
The time has come to feel good about yourself
You have your own skin and bones to call yourself
And you will never ever be somebody else
So pay your bills
And have your children now
You are endowed with your responsibilities
You’ve got to choose from all these possibilities
So when you go to bed you get down on your knees
And find a God
To give your body to
Tomorrow wakes you up
You find that it’s enough
An ample time for you
To live to grow
To be your own
You’re an adult and you can’t starve yourself to death
You’ve got to seek help if you’re chronically depressed
But you’re the only one who can say what’s for the best
So close your ears
And do not hear me now
I can play the piano
A B C D E F G
I am not I am not I am not I am not I’m alive
Hey boys, stop being so mean
Calling your girlfriend names
sweatshirts strings dangling
under fluorescent lighting
sweatshirt strings strangling
inside the parking complex
(W H A T I F F O R J U S T 1 N I G H T U T U R N E D N T O A N A N I M A L)
No longer hampered by the weight of our SKIN....
we focus solely on the pleasures WITHIN......
abandoned hallways with the lights FLICKERING....
the empty parking lot we fold our BONES in.....
street lights reflecting makes an asphalt HALO....
the night-time is the right-time come on let's GO....
it was much darker at the time don't you KNOW....
the color's faded out on this VIDEO....
LET'S GO!!!!
I’m working pretty hard to keep it up
I don’t know how to start, don’t know when to stop
I just found out – hey! I’m a man
I’ve got feelings and sweaty hands
You can’t help what you look like
You can only look like it
When you tell me to hold you, what does it mean?
Is it an invitation to be as I seem?
I couldn’t say, I’m feeling nervous
But if you ask then I’m at your service
Just tell me what I’m asking for
I’d like to know you better
But the fears and social pressure that’s
Affecting my affections
How can I approach perfection thinking
You are foreign language
You are not real
I know I ought to hide
But I only wanna feel and
I wouldn’t want to hurt you now
Even if I had the chance
Because you asked me to this dance
Because you ask me now to dance
In front of all my friends in front of
Everyone I know
I am dancing I am dancing
And I don’t want to dance slow I wanna sweat
I want to know what your weaknesses are
Come on and tell me what your weaknesses are
There’s something different about you, you’re not me
But you remember the things that I say
The same heat that makes you blush
Gives me a blood rush too
What are you doing? People have died
Shame on you for being alive
No, there’s no shame in it
Everybody does it
It’s not unnatural
It’s not illegal
No one can tell you when to shine
I’d like to know you better
But the fears and social pressure that’s
Affecting my affections
How can I approach perfection thinking
You are foreign language
You are not real
I know I ought to hide
But I only wanna feel like
I wouldn’t want to hurt you now
Even if I had the chance
Because you asked me to this dance
Because you ask me now to dance
In front of all my friends in front of
Everyone I know
I am dancing I am dancing
And I don’t want to dance slow I wanna sweat
Back from the sandstorms
Back to looking at myself in the mirror
I’ve seen the photographs
Those clothes don’t fit me right these clothes don’t fit these clothes don’t fit
Don’t go to San Francisco
You won’t find yourself there
Cause you’re already everywhere
In every bathroom you wake up in
Wash the glitter off your face
Hands in the sink pray for God’s grace
I don’t need no burning man
I got my hotel room
I don’t need no desert sand
I’m going back home soon
I don’t need no hot romance
To last a day or two
I don’t need no loving hands
Cause now I know, now I know, now I know the truth
If ugly is a word
Then there are ugly people in the world
And if there’s ugly people in the world
I am one of them, I am defined
But I’m ok with the mirror
I’m ok with the brutal facts
There’s other things to talk about
We can talk about something else now
Irony is all that I have
Sincerity is all that I have
I had to fear, I had to hate
There was nothing else to it
Being ok with it
Would kill me
Hmm hmm hmm, it’s not your business
Please excuse me for a minute
I don’t need no burning man
I got my hotel room
I don’t need no rock and roll band
To help me play the blues
I just need a government
To name me and give me food
I don’t need no loving hands
Cause now I know, now I know, now I know the truth
With water in my ears
I couldn’t believe
everyone could act so normal with water in their ears
When I had water in my ears
I could hear my own voice echoing inside my head
No one can know my dreams
Let’s keep this between you and me
I don’t mean much without you
You’re the other person in the room
This is your side, this is my side
By invisible shatterproof glass
I wanna take a picture of you and then burn it
I wanna take a photo of you and burn it
I want a face like that
Last night I dreamed I had to tell
My parents about us
When I woke up I was crying
Mother shook me by the shoulders
Said “you’re ruining your life!”
I’m sorry that your bright young boy is dying
I know I dishonored
the family name
But all I ever had was my heart
And I wake up a kid
In a bed miles from home
But I’m too old to get a new start
I’ve heard I talk in my sleep
But my voice is too weak
To hear the words I say
I’ve been trying like hell
To wake myself up
But dreams fall hard today
In a vision of death
You breathe your last breath
And all that I hold is cold embers
And I sing in your ear
But there’s nothing to hear
Just a nightowl in burial chambers
You say that you love me
And I write it all down
So when you’re gone I’ll remember
But as I get old I find
I can’t trust my own mind
And your words all break down into laughter
I’ve heard I talk in my sleep
But my voice is too weak
To make out the words I say
I’ve been trying like hell
To wake myself up
But dreams fall hard today
I watch myself falling apart
My body can’t keep up with my heart
What I see I can’t understand
This sweet boy’s becoming a nervous old man
I wake up with tears
Not yet dried on my face
No comfort in the cold light of morning
Young men see visions
And old men dream dreams
And it all amounts to a warning
I’ve heard I talk in my sleep
But my voice is too weak
To hear the words I say
I’ve been trying like hell
To wake myself up
But dreams fall hard today
And by the time
I get it out of my mind
Night has fallen upon me again
This plane is going down
Anything to make you feel better
At least this time when it explodes into flames
No one could say that you’re to blame
I forgot how to drive
That’s why I’m taking this flight
With all of my shit piled on the passenger seat
I just couldn’t keep my eyes on the street
Now I go
oooh
This weather’s making me crazy
Lightning keeps thinking it likes me
And I guess I can see why it wants to hit
But I am not a light though I am lit
I’m just cruising through the stop sign
Sorry officer, the radio was blowing my mind
They were playing a song that’s gone out of tune
I’ll take the rhythm but fuck them blues
I’m not sad I’m sad I’m not sad I’m sad not sad at all
That’s not bad, man, keep going, you can do it, you already did it!
You can make no mistakes, you’re perfect, you totally got this!
Just shut up shut up shut up shut up with all this negative vibes, all this yelling
Just shut up
And if your luggage got lost, you can leave without it
And if you run out of drugs, you can sleep without it, you know you can!
And if you want to go home, you can call a taxi
And if you don’t want to talk, you can sit in the backseat
Ooh
You can have my iPod
You can have my guitar
You can have my drum set
You can have my car
You can have my CDs
You can have my DVDs
You can have my refrigerator
You can have my secret collection of pornography
You can have my secret collection of marijuana
You can have the keys to my house
You can have my house
You can have my cat
As long as you promise to feed him every day
And let him out when he needs it
The cat's left eye is nothing to worry about
Um, the pigment - the left eye is turning from green to brown.
It's nothing to worry about
You can have the trophy
I found in the trash can
You can have the trophies
We won in the bathtub
You can have my books
You can have my clothes, all my nice clothes
You can have my handsoap
You can have my silverware
You can have my piano
You can have my other piano
You can have my curtains You can have my lampshades You can have my rollsofducttape
You can have my
big jacket
You won't get cold when you're wearing
my big jacket
You can have my
big jacket
You won't get cold with
my big jacket
It’s hard to adjust your eyes after the matinee
From the womb of the theater to the light of day
But you’ve got something to think about on the ride home
And you’ve got something to talk about if you’re not alone
Outside the walls I hear sirens
Fade to black, dramatic irony
Before my eyes, after the previews
I can relate, you do what we do
So I’m alive in the final act
The spirits did it all in an hour and a half
Bring me to pain, bring me to relief
Turn off my brain, suspend my disbelief
There’s a beautiful score I’ll never hear
When my vision blurs it rings in my ears
I must be saved
I must be saved before the end
There’s a wonderful line I can’t remember
I can’t rewind so I better remember
Must be saved
I must be saved before the end
The hero stands up and the blood rushes out of his head
But you can still see him breathing after he’s dead
And after the soul is gone, his body’s back to himself
You’ll say “Oh, who is he? I seen him in something else”
And so I pray to the movie screen
That I’ll be shown something I’ve never seen
A revelation, I can sense it
But this part don’t make any sense yet
If heaven is a film that never ends
And all the characters are my friends
Or is that what we call a tv show
Or is that the real life that we’re living now
There’s a beautiful score I’ll never hear
When my vision blurs it rings in my ears
I must be saved
I must be saved before the end
There’s a wonderful line I can’t remember
I can’t rewind so I better remember
Must be saved
I must be saved before the end
Everyone left the theater
Everyone but me
Could’ve been better, had such potential
I’m probably just tired
I’ll love you again in the morning
I guess it was my fault
I must’ve missed the warning
That’s not what I meant
You twisted the words right out of my mouth
Do you remember
What this was even about?
I’m probably just tired
I’ll love you again in the morning
I guess it was my fault
I must’ve missed the warning
I can’t explain
Just keep going round and round and round and round
If you could see my brain
See it pound and pound and pound and pound
I’m probably just tired
I’ll love you again in the morning
I guess it was my fault
I must’ve missed the warning
My heart can’t take this
Why are you trying to hurt me, if you love me, why are you hurting me so goddamn much?
Honey if we keep fighting I won’t ever get to sleep
And if I never get to sleep, I’ll never see the morning, I won’t ever love you again
But if we get to sleep
I’ll sleep next to you
And honey if we ever get to sleep
In the morning we will
Rise
Rise
Rise
In that bright blessed morning
Rise
Rise
Rise
Let’s get to bed
I don’t feel the fear anymore
Carry me through your door
When it’s too late to go home
We won’t have to be alone
We’ll keep the world on repeat
Day and night locked out on the street
Time will pass us kindly by
Losing feathers, we won’t mind
And I’m lost just thinking about it
In the clouds, some strange angel’s porch
Lost just thinking about you
In your arms, what I love you for
When all the lights are out
And you don’t know what you’re thinking about
You’ve got someone to hold your head
Hey night owl, come to bed
And I’m lost just thinking about it
In the clouds, some strange angel’s porch
Lost just thinking about you
In your soul, what I love you for
I am asking for the moon
Let the world have their sun
Let it all fall to ruin
You are my favorite one
When it’s all gone, I love you
When I'm done, I love you
My ghost sleeps on the floor
he can't sleep cause there's music next door
I stay awake in case they need a band
he stays awake cause he's a nervous young man
I can't drink because the bars are closed
I can't go out cause I don't have nice clothes
Katie brought a deck of Tarot with her
I got my fortune read, I didn't hear a word
Everybody hates a clown
Everybody dies and drowns
Everybody throws a party
Everybody throws a funeral
My dad's ghost hides under the bed
with a joke that'll knock em all dead
and all my enemies and all my friends
are on the floor right above my head
my identity's a compromise
my potential has been fetishized
and my soul has been psychedelicized!!!!
Everybody hates a clown
Everybody dies and drowns
Everybody throws a party
Everybody throws a funeral
Get your swords out
Get your swords out
Open up in every way
Get your words out
Get your words out
What the hell are you trying to say?
Get your swords out
Get your swords out
I'm the only one fighting this war
Get your words out
Get your words out
I don't want this on the record anymore
I try to grow and I just get taller
I cleanse my soul and it just gets smaller
and I stole every single song that I wrote
from my seventeen-year-old ghost
but I'm haunted every day
by all the lyrics that he threw away
so if there's one thing he forgot to say
I hope it wasn't I love you cause I do
Everybody hates a clown
Everybody dies and drowns
Everybody throws a party
Everybody throws a funeral
I had a dream there were knives in my coffee