promise me now
you'll keep you're eyes closed
when the light starts to shine
all my flaws start to show

"ignorance is bliss"
no wise man has failed to mention
enlightened second-hand, suggested
neglect leads to perfection

a smile that lights the room
a kiss to send me on my way
the promises you'll break tomorrow
the lies you tell today.

two of the worlds loneliest people
sitting side-by-side on the train
seeing each other every day on the way to work
never knowing the other feels exactly the same
all it takes is a smile, or a wave
people will reciprocate!
hoping for someone to reach out a hand
to grab life by the throat and shake it awake
the feelings they share that they're too scared to show
the feelings we all have that nobody knows.

Your words within me
attached by needle and thread
stitched into my being
constantly crashing in my head

i know that i'm a mess
and i'm less than you deserve
the wires of my brain get so tangled
i don't know why i say the things i say
last night, when i told you i hate you
and i pushed you and told you you should leave
in my head, what i really meant by that was
i love you! i'm sorry! please, don't leave!

found herself alone again
and she begged for life and love
she's wished more times than there are stars in the sky
same as it ever was
same as it ever was

he spoke of was and when
to the moon perched high above
but the moon made no reply
same as it ever was
same as it ever was

i used to think that you were gods
but now i know you're only men
(oh, how i know men)
you think i'm scared of death?
i've died a million times
i'm quite good at it by now
how good are you?
(if you don't help me
you'll soon find out)

you pray for change
and hope it's enough
but hope springs eternal
and real change is always tough
you float down a river
filled with tears
buoyed not by faith but
weighed down by fear
tell me the truth
who do you think
will forgive you for this?
i'm not mad you didn't choose change
i'm mad change chose you.

stop wishing for death just because
you don't want to live like this
don't settle because you're scared
follow through on those
mid-day walks and
late night drives
stay up late getting drunk
with all the friends you're afraid to lose
you're not sinking
you're not alone
you're beautiful
and braver than you know
you're a miracle and
the world is infinitely better with you in it.

this hollow ground is
made for giving in
poked and prodded and
stretched too thin
as he stands on the edge
he turns to the sky
time for one more request
before he waves goodbye
"please god, grant them
all the strength in the world
especially my youngest
yeah, she's daddys little girl"
just like that
he lets go
and where he's off to
yeah, nobody knows
left an empty wallet
and a picture filled phone
thirty seconds falling
into the blazing unknown
with a glimpse of infinity
a smile graces his lips
he'd never known it'd be
as wonderful as this

he has no faith but
he's familiar with hell
and there's no telling
how he made it out alive
but for all the friends he's lost
he'll sing a song of how they tried
he knows someday it'll be okay
he's got her so
he'll never be alone

my hairs on fire and there's
no driver behind the wheel
she tells me
"i have no idea what this feels like"
and for once i know
exactly what she's talking about

first through the door
but last to the bar
the night is always over
right from the start

a voice will ring out
"off with his head!"
but the joke is on her
cause i'm already dead

so i pour one out
for fairweather friends
who got caught up in love
and other violent ends

i go for a swim
and drown in my drink
with the weight of the world
"my, how fast he did sink!"

she said
go with grief
whilst i pray for plagues
and wish for what once was

i said
don't believe anyone
who tells you
you deserved this

you prayed for a savior
so i put these holes
in my hands
it's all for you
and i can't stop shaking
if you don't stop shaking

a moment of joy
a fall from grace
now an empty shelf
instead of an angels space

always cracked, no matter
how well it's assembled
gone, lost to our breath or
the ground as it trembles

i asked what she'd found
as she collected the fragments
a feeling of loss, hopelessness
despair and detachment

it was only half as precious
as i had originally thought
she smiled as she told me
love is given, never bought

the tear has turned to torn
meant for fields of hearts broken
an eternity for those imperfect
inherently known but never spoken

a decree of modesty
it's said they fought til the last man
but who then told the story
of those who question, but never understand

surrounded by slumbers
a condition constantly denied
a lifetime sickened by grief
lord, believe that i've tried

awakened to the moon
staring wide-eyed
hopelessly wild
i glance down
and find my hands covered in
red is the color of god
lights in the distance
voices beneath the glow
now red was their color
and they belong to me, too.

a pair of eyes
a pitch dark room
not a sound
but your breathing
heavy
and i whisper
i could live like this
forever

nyc, morning
an ocean of cars
lights
sirens
sunshine
i have no idea how long i've been wandering
something is wrong with the sidewalk
it rises, like waves on the water
i don't mind
i am completely free

i'm stumbling over fault lines
reaching for something i'll never find
occupied by thoughts that weren't even mine
run down by four rotting horses
ridden by four rusted men
who preach of the apocalypse
and promise to keep me safe until the end
and i'm intrigued by all the things they've told me
i don't mind being alone, i just hate being lonely
cause love made simple is hard to hold
and all their threats are just getting old
how do you forget everything you've learned?
what's the journey worth, if you'll never return?
living divided
not by distance or meaning
but miles of bridges burned
fire fills my eye
as i turn for one last look at that ****** place
stopped by a sight i'll never forget
in the middle of hell, an angels face

you never really know the people you love
some things really are thicker than blood
just because you've managed to forget
doesn't mean it's happened for them yet
just because you've left it alone and far behind
doesn't mean it's not still running through their mind
sometimes, you come home to find they've changed the locks
and when you call their phone, it turns out your numbers been blocked
the light goes off, a chill runs down your spine
and you realize you've finally run out of time

i sit and i listen while you tell me
that everything is "awful, just awful" whenever i'm around
tried a million different compromises
and you don't hesitate to shoot them all down
two different species
like the canary and the crow
can they ever learn to love one another?
"no one really knows"
i sit and i listen while you try to explain
how one's known for heart, the other for brains
inevitably, the crow will overwhelm the canary
and you didn't spend all this time to learn to live secondary
you want to learn to fly
you want to spread your wings
you want to chase imaginary
invisible
impossible things
all i know is a brain without a heart
is a failed thing right from the start
i guess it could learn to live that way
but why would it want to, anyway?

and when you said you wanted to stay static forever
i was mad because, in my mind, static did everything but stay together
staring out the window with eyes closed
letting insecurity and immaturity show
we went back to work and
i did everything to show you how much i was hurt
i built a wall, hoping you'd break it down
i pushed you away, hoping you'd tell me you wanted to stick around
you asked what was wrong, i said everyone leaves eventually
so you left and took every part that meant something to me.

quit separating who you "are" and who you "claim to be". believe that the way you are is the way you're meant to be. focus on blinding the world with what, until now, have been but glimpses of angelic silhouettes and stop tripping over old mistakes and regrets. sometimes, you make it harder on yourself, but that's what it's means to live with a heart wide open; yes, there's pain, but you're learning and it's lovely. keep smiling. stay sweet and continue adding color to this black hole we call life.

they're digging up old bones and are surprised
to find themselves bathed in such fresh blood
reached for a smile and a hand, yet tried and found
guilty of abandon! and crucified by love
they pray for revolution, yeah they beg for change
with faces and fists raised high above
the dance for rain will soon be answered
he's making up for lost time, he's sending the flood
which of course will extinguish the light
that the burning of bridges provide
buoyed by the faith of their concrete convictions
they'll all sink the same no matter how hard they've tried

as the cigarette burns and burns my fingers
glimpses of you as the smoke lingers
two lives on an ever branching path
wondering how other lovers make it last
tell the truth, even if your voice shakes
be the difference that hope makes
my mouth opens but makes not a sound
think of this moment when you wonder why she's no longer around

i can't speak for myself
but i will speak for the other
disfigured by disease and
left abandoned by her mother
fleeting glimpses
of angelic silhouettes
caught up in old
mistakes and regrets
she hold the knife and
i want to take the ride
heavy's the cost of life
and i'm not willing to die
her cup is overflowing but
she's screaming out for more
she's caught up in the fury but
i have dealt with this before
she mumbles through the verses
not blessings but curses
mesmerized by horoscope and prophecy
all that means nothing to me
there's cause for all this grief
and the dirt that's on her knees
she asks just what it means
no one can save her
from all that she's seen
memories kept warm and
safe until the end
if i can't love her as a lover
then i'll love her as a friend
harder than holding heaven
high above my head
weighed down by all
that we've left unsaid
while hope hangs from the trees
with no time left for pleasantries
dawns on the horizon
yeah, time is running out
all these second guesses
only exposing doubt
no, the kiss don't seem as sweet if
i can still taste the tears on her lips
staring off the edge, wondering
how the hell we ended up like this

and all i want is for you to recognize
all the love i wear behind my eyes
instead you question how 2+2=5
as if it dressed in some strange disguise
this light will wait for us
it will wait in dust
it will ignore the rust
until you've learned to temper your disgust
i'm sick of watching you
wander the streets alone
i'd burn alive
if i thought it'd bring you back home
and if you ever say you never loved me
i'll know you're still a liar
but if i say i never wondered
i deserve every inch of this terrible fire

i told you not to start what you couldn't finish, you dismissed it and called me ridiculous. now you're lost, drifting like a ghost along the coast, calling and all alone, pacing under a moon that's 400 miles from home. you sound so confused, but i told you that would happen; i just never thought you sink the entire ship to **** the captain.

moving down an ever branching path
dependent on neither his grace nor his wrath
pursued relentless by sickness born above
bathed in tears, covered in scars, calling it love
weighed down while crossing the diamond sea
burdened by faith and what it meant to me
this pedestal leaves but room for one
damnation dooms the rest who wallow under the sun
a letter written but never sent
more an act that what it meant
how do you save the one who begs to burn?
without the pain, how would we ever learn?

i know feelings aren't easy
and it can be hard to show
but if you could find it in yourself
i'd wrap you up tight and never let you go
your words knocked the breath right out of me
you spoke with a disdain that would be hard to fake
but believe i only hid your keys
so you wouldn't drive your car into the lake
sometimes, we all get low
we all live with a pain we don't think anyone else will ever know
but i need you to try
i need you to work on yourself like a mountain on high
there's not enough treasure buried in the diamond sea
that could ever equate to what you mean to me
yeah, i miss your smile
you don't seem to laugh anymore
you smother the spark i thought we'd set
still, all i can seem to say is "what'd you do that for?"

you look so lonely
in those photos with your friends
how can anybody know you if
the means never justify the end
no, no one can stop you
while you're blowing up those lines
if you don't care to take
the ****** nose as a sign
you want to stay home from school
and lose yourself, playing in the snow
only it's not as great as you imagine
we've lost you long ago
and we'd do anything to have you back
what you have more than makes up for what you lack
not a wolf, but a shadow

and i dig until my fingers are black
looking for what i lack
all i find are worms and dirt
my head is sore and my back hurts
i can still hear the last words that you told me
"i don't mind being alone, i just hate feeling lonely"
and i cage my tongue
in the space behind my teeth
i'm counting 5.4.3.2.1.
i'm remembering how to breathe
cause if you say you never loved me
i'll know you're still a liar
and if i say i never wondered
i deserve every inch of this terrible fire

if the gods wished to punish us
they just need to answer our prayers
it's exactly what we deserve
for leaving faith up in the air
it's a hopeless benediction
a song for the lonesome to sing
a wish for wings that work
and the flood they promised to bring
those without the music
thought the rest of us insane
as they raise our mouths on high
they drown to spite the rain
they beat us with the book
that tells them they should love
while they canonize the snake
they crucify the dove

you got a lot of followers
but not that many friends
does it keep you warm and night?
will you feel safe upon the end?
you talk of starting over
yeah, you want to burn it down
the seeds will never be clean
after they've been buried in the ground
you remember things
you knew were never true
yeah, you boast of things
you know you'd never do
like a lighter without a flame
it will be never be the same
when they've all been beaten back
then who will you blame?
yeah, you pass the hat
and you collect their change
while you speak of your crusade
not knowing that
the end will come
from the rust upon the blade

this conversation is one-sided
but that's not my choice
i'd trade ever inch of your silence
to hear the sound of your voice
you're a shrine without a saint
and i'd burn all of my beliefs
if it would have killed the cancer
that made you have to leave
i'm sorry all i said was
"please, don't leave"
i know it's not your fault
that's just how much you meant to me
so now i live without your guidance
i stumble in the dark
your body might've left
but your soul has left a mark
that i'll carry in me forever
until we meet again
that day can't come soon enough
you are my one, my only, my best friend.

a night unlike those before
someone who always asks for more
and the inspiration will never be found
you can't blame the seeds for being planted in the ground
drunken nights without sleep
broken promises you'll never keep
memories too restless to die
lies not kind enough to die
nothing good is original
everything good is dead
i've warned them all before
no one else listens to the voices in my head
but *******!
it can be hard to believe
in something you have no hope
of ever being able to perceive
i don't blame you for refusing
to place faith in what they say is true
but the decisions been handed down
and there's nothing else that i can do.

the holiest of holies
and i dare not speak your name
i'm not worthy of your love
but i'll ruin you just the same
you're the child in a minefield
i'm a bomb that lies in wait
not considered providence
no, i wouldn't call it fate
as you place water upon
these parched and broken lips
i draw you in with an innocent smile
then bite your hands off at the wrist

wade in the water, wade
let the flood swell
thank the storm for her tears
the faithful say its beautiful
it's god's will
but the fool knows what the prophets have seen
no salvation's impending
the faithful say its beautiful
it's god's will
let the flood swell
and the bodies that break
will just float down the river
stay tame, soft river, while we weigh our faith
stay sweet, run softly, sweet river
the fool who wades in doubt will float like concrete
come and fill your lungs. come and fill your lungs
let the flood swell

you speak with an authority
you have no right to claim
pass on easy judgment
feel free to lay the blame
you burn in an impression
that it would spite the sun
all the irony is lost
you've earned it more than anyone
it's not so much an anger
more so just depressed
you passed right by the source
for a reserve with nothing left
you plant such soiled seeds
and cry when nothing grows
you complain of constant thirst
while the cup you hold overflows
you reach out from the covers
try to pull me right back in
i'm sick of infinite circles
this ends where it begins
sure, my shoulders chipped
eroded by your tears
the storm has only started
you'll find no shelter here
i don't want to forget
i want never to have known
i want it buried underneath
miles of flesh and blood and bone
from now you'll sing yourself to sleep
with all of those wise words
pray to a god i don't believe
this is the last of you i've heard

the ground we built our world upon is sinking fast beneath our feet
i'm begging for a sign but you've lost the will to speak
all the hope is here right now
all the hope is fading beneath the ground
buried but breathing
mistaken meaning within the empty spaces your words are leaving
some say that love is all you need
only fools expect miracles from such soiled seeds
if a pictures worth a thousand words
i'll be the loudest noise you've ever heard
you mistake the home for the cage
i hold tight while you're wasting away
i'll count my blessings within the rain
left soaking wet and you never hear me complain