There’s no tracks for me to cross in my neighborhood
So I don’t know which side I’m on
There’s no land for me to plant any seeds upon
I don’t know if I’m a duck or a swan
But I know I’m welcome on any backwoods pond

I could sing about things I never understood
And I could say if I believe it then it must be true
It takes too long for the past to make itself known to you
It’s easier to recite the things I already knew
Maybe something I heard sitting in a wooden pew

I’m the father because he was born next to where I stood
I didn’t say anything because the bus already ran
On the road upon which try to cross but never can
We’re turtles walking slow without a plan
Nobody knows anything so our shell became the holy land

The last time I crossed my heart my promise was good
I wanted say oh baby and let it last long in your ear
But you were interested in flags that you held dear
I agreed but then it’s not always so clear
We had no complaints but then we never did live in fear

I know that’s as close as you will come
I have to bring you home myself
Like a ship that cannot stop
You still need help
Someone to hold your hand
While you leave the car
Or walk up the stairs
Because you are a lady
And what a lady does
Is wait to unpack her bags
Until someone else does it for her

Love is not about being grown-up
I’m going to stare at you as long as it takes
Don’t you remember how it feels
When are you going to let me fall in love with you

Don’t make it seem too fast
That’s how long it took when we were young
And now we don’t have time to decide
It’s our life now and you know it’s true

It’s not too late for us
Forget everything that has happened
I realize what we’ve been through
But that was with somebody else

Maybe it’s my fault
Every flower I’ve ever sent is yours now
I just have to gather them up
And dust off the memories I’m want to forget

Don’t let our children pass us by
They don’t really know what we’ve been through
I can see the young girl in your heart
That’s what I want, can you give it to me?

I saw the borders, they were open
Open for the huddled masses
I saw the sunny rain, trying to help
If it’s still true, why do I smell burning ashes?

I’m beginning to grieve, is it a just life?
I want a heart full of gladness
Is there a way to know how,
Is it mixed with too much sadness?

I drew a face in the sand; it washed away
We were all young once,
We don’t need the ocean to remind us
The wistful world lives inside the conchs

I wonder who can make me see
I already know, a bridge crosses my mind
It wasn’t a trick or a politic
Her hand was outstretched to mine

I saw the borders, they're still open
The birds fly over, following the sun
And the poor are still walking
Away from the gloom, towards God’s son

I don't really understand
I read the same book
It didn't make me want to control
It just told me what I know
About how I need more
More of the things in my soul

I don't really see
The things you say to me
It's not my life or my will
It's not the past anymore
We still have a little more
But you can't accept it still

I don't really care
If you can't get it right
Just don't tell me I'm wrong
It's not the way of being free
To have to believe
In a place I don't belong

I won't tell you why
You already know
I can't say it any more
But you won't listen to me
You threw away the key
And locked my prison door

I'm not here to hurt you
Take what you need from me
I can shed my skin
Or reload my gun again
Being empty is nothing new to me

There's a way of finding out
What kind of a man I am
Watch me sit next to my ex
Or thinking about her having ***
It's really nothing new to me

If I don't say or do anything
It's either because I don't care
Or I'm thinking too much about it
I wish I wasn't either or none of it
It would be something new to me

Nothing surprises me anymore
People can't help themselves
A rock can't be a flower
A human can't be a spring shower
It would be something new to me

I think it’s easier to talk about tomorrow
There’s nothing wrong with it
I’ve not spoiled it for anybody
And neither have any of my promises
The past is either untrue or too much to take

I’ve been told of a universal force
As if telling the truth can change the world
I don’t know about anything like that
Nobody wants to change
They just keep buying bullets

A poet can scowl at the world
While picking flowers for his mother
There’s so much I can’t prove
But I know something is very wrong
So many people are yelling at me

I traveled round the world in a day
It took Magellan three years
He didn’t really make it all the way
Neither did I, but I did make a friend
And it was her smile that parted time

Crying has become something to save
It’s not an unexpected moment
It’s when you clean your face in the shower
Or driving into a parking garage
While people notice how loud the music is

The way of the world is how afraid we are
Every tribe tries to survive
Bad news is a way of life for all of us
I could never send a child away
I wonder if that's what I'm doing to you