The greener grass grows where the wildfires fertilize With ashes of sparrows, peppered moths, and butterflies Ghosts of trees and termites bloom in the beanstalk And if you get lightheaded when standing too fast Is it from shaking out the weight of phosphenes and pasts Salt deposits on warm little rivers that burst from our words And god knows crying ain’t gonna change a thing She said “take care,” but I take more than I bring. She said “It just feels inhumane to lose this much” Cause when you leave, you know you take more than your love Just one week of cicada days we’re losing touch And I know it just feels inhumane to lose this much. Our nerves were braided under ceiling stars, they were all Glow-in-the-dark, hanging over queen-sized Purple waves of ancient chemicals Just whisper Did you ever build with those endangered bones? Well the ground looks soft enough to bury this now Oh please, oh no. And then my sponsor said “Do nothing. Nothing works.” And it really did. And then my doctor said “Don’t do that if it hurts.” She said “It just feels inhumane to lose this much.” Cause when you leave, you know you take more than your love. The seasons of cicada days we can’t make up And I know it just feels inhumane to lose this much. Let all my red flags fade to white, yeah, I give up Don’t let me leave, I’ll only take more than I gave. Okay, I’ll pack my stuff Here at the end of days, my god, what have I done? Christ now it feels damn inhumane to get all I've dreamed of Keep coming back, it works if you work it So work it, you’re worth it, it won’t if you don’t One day at a time, tomorrow’s too late, amen.

I’m that first-person they talk about in all the books I’m that perspective you cannot doubt, see how I look Control the narrative reliably, baby it’s all about me And I wrote the book about throwing the book at those who Don’t do it by it So now I’m holding myself hostage, Stockholm lust just looks like justice And enough lefts don’t make the right but two wrongs do Oh man, Sun Tzu would love this. Beating my dead high horse off the high road to low ground cause If you shake your fist at snakes in grass it looks like punching down. So God forbid I’m seen just as an average human being I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene I’m the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don’t come at me I’m the main character, and you have to like me I loot plot-armor from NPC’s, well they are to me Trite tropes, traits, traumas, trinkets, and treats. It’s all XP. Look in the Sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s super-ego! The underdog you cheer for Villains are everywhere, that’s how I know I’m the hero So tie me to the train tracks, laugh and snidely twist your mustache, Snidely Whiplash Boris Badinov, ignorin’ me’s bad enough, where do you get off? Da, das vadanya darling, Daleks in high collars monologue And I outsmart them with a ray-gun and a tweet So God forbid I’m seen just as an average human being I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene I’m the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don’t come at me I’m the main character, and you have to like me Judge me by what my cover shows, author becomes beyond reproach You don’t know the prose, or if the spine is still intact. Oh, like Alice fell to wonderland, come astroturf my Overton Embolden my demand to live by alternative facts. Her majesty says "the royal we demand a standard loyalty” An agreement to be reverent, lick the emperor’s new boots. The court fool got the guillotine, the witches the stake, you the dopamine And Siemens made the Zyklon B, but we all still get the flu. (It’s nothing new) We all do what we need to to get through. But I ain’t done a fucking thing to you. So god forbid I’m seen just as an average human being, I mean Imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme I’m the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don’t come at me I’m the main character and you have to like me.

I want a new pair of shades, get paid to wear shoes Do what I say, don't say what I do when we're alone now High up but a low down You know I'm not the type of guy to turn my back on a knife And that's why I'm still looking in the mirror I want to be safe from the fame but be loved from afar Get paid to write my name, could you airbrush my scars? Get my good side. Don't get on my bad side. You know I'm not the type of guy to turn my back on a knife It's just my luck these motherfuckers talking smack on a guy But I'm deserving every word they could begin to apply Well at least they know now That I really don't care what you think or what you say Either that or I do way too much, oh well, whatever, either way My hearts empty and I'm trying to fill it up But it's not big enough for the both of us No it's not big enough for the both of us I want no less than the best but the best I can do Is do the worst thing first and leave the rest up to you I'm realistic. Everyone's a critic. If I keep beating myself up I'll keep on winning the fight and get my ass kicked I'm poisonous not toxic I'll admit when I'm wrong, but only to be right And if it fits in the song, I'll rhyme that with "contrived" Don't meet your idols. Hey fuck you, I'm your idol. But the only label that'll sign is in the DSM-5, cause my flaws are sort of on the pathological side. Don't call me eccentric, call me mentally sick, 'cause I ain't sold enough tickets yet to be rich, and that's the only difference I really don't care what you think or what you say Either that or I do way too much, oh well, whatever, either way My hearts empty and I'm trying to fill it up But it's not big enough for the both of us No it's not big enough for the both of us And if looks could kill, I'd be staring in the mirror And if looks could kill, I'd be staring in the mirror And if looks could kill, I'd be staring in the mirror Even more than I already would 'Cause man I'm looking good And I really don't care what you think or what you say Either that or I do way too much, oh well, whatever, either way My hearts empty and I'm trying to fill it up But it's not big enough for the both of us And I really don't care what you think or what you say I'm a cancer, I'm malignant, yeah you ought to stay away My hearts fucking empty and I'm trying to fill it up But it's not big enough for the both of us No it's not big enough for the both of us No it's not big enough for the both of us.

I don’t owe you my heart, and I don’t owe you my body. But you should know that I’m sorry for being careless with you. Lord knows I owed you more, than I’m pretty sure I ever could give anybody But I can’t pin down what normal people want from foreign objects Bottom-shelf erotic products like me So, I could hold your hand but keep you at arms’ length Oh, hang me from a branch too high to climb and shake Less rare than scarce, less diamond than rough Unlikely to be more than the coal you fail to crush I swear I’m really trying. Get it together, Will, know and do better It just don’t come natural to me to think That you’d want me for me I swear I’m really trying I’m sorry, I promise, I’m doing my best I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet I still don’t know who you are. I only know that I’m still lonely That morbid sort where even company can’t cure me And the more you reassure the less I trust But still you gave me your heart, I only gave you my body. Honestly thought nobody’d want it, let alone notice it’s Gone and so I left it home but now Now, now, now I keep a locket with a picture of the back of my head Oh, monkey-wrench my side view mirrors, ghost my friends I’ve lived more lives than enough, I haven’t died quite as much But I’m not a real person, just the shit you can’t make up I swear I’m really trying I’m just as exposed if I take off my clothes When we make the closest thing to love that I’m capable of I don’t know why you would care. But I’m really trying I’m sorry, I promise, I’m doing my best I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet Did I really Have any of that gravity? Maybe you’re quicksand Because I really couldn’t tell how deep my footprints went The vertex of my redemption arc, the searching of that virgin heart I’m catatonic in your arms, cryin’ “how did I cause so much harm?” I’m down pounding my head against the kitchen floor Apologizing for my life and ever entering yours Don’t say “I’m sorry but this can’t go on” I know you got scars of your own, But hide my knives before you go, I’ll either live or die alone I swear I will die trying I’m still in the process but I’m making progress. I promise I honestly want to prove improvement’s possible I swear I’m so fucking sorry I’m not a good person, I’m barely a person at all, but Someday I’ll be perfect and I’ll make up for it all

Don’t take the following words as reverence for tradition I’ve learned to pick my battles by losing most I’ve fought. The more mores subverted, the more I sense I’m missing And I’ll always do it my way, even if that’s just the same way I was taught. I’ll bring home the bread and you’ll stay home and bake it Weeding out the garden where the milestones gather moss Crack a smile at my vows, and whisper “wow, can you believe we really made it?” As I give up on dodging rice, and fold my cape, I say “obviously not.” But I want to be just like my parents before I was born Oh can we be just like my parents? I know you don’t want kids but think about a daughter We could name her Gwendolyn, like mom would have called me. I’m not sure yet myself, but I learned from a good father Yeah, I mean sure, they messed me up. But I think that’s just the gig. And maybe it’s just some hormones that kick in in your late twenties But I have laid a lot of women, and now I’d like to just lay down And marriage always scared me, but I’d like to have a last love And love can last a pretty good long while. I’ve seen it around. Oh, can we be just like my parents when I was young? Why can’t we be just like my parents? Tongue out of my cheek now, I’m done pulling faces Iconoclasm wanes. My cynicism tires But what do I know bout forever when so far, I’ve been so fleeting? Babe, my frontal lobe’s done growing; this might just be how I’m wired But now we’re kissing before brushing, smile with our whole faces If you want a hyphen last name I guess I don’t mind the cadence I’ve seen home videos. I was there back in the 80’s And if I’m just them and they back then could do it, why can’t I? Just like my parents in due time Imagine me, just like my parents? Yeah, right. ‘Cause I’ve made more mistakes, than simple empty moments Each one as out of character as you know I tend to be There’ll be scalpers at the cemetery gates, with all my would-be widows weeping I’d have forgotten all their names, so why should you remember me? But if we grow old together and you talk to my headstone, That is, assuming that I die first, (which is fair) and assuming I don’t leave Close enough to forever, I guess, to prove what I hoped. I mean otherwise how am I to believe?

So here we go, I'm turning over the same old leaf again The seraphim on my shoulder whispering "please don't turn your head, 'Cause if it weren't for the everything then anything could happen." If anybody needs me, I'll be in my coffin. Girl, I guess you're just my style, you know I dig you like a tomb And I'm sorry for the things I've done and all I ask of you but please Squeeze it in rhythm, prevent my heart from stopping If you still want me come and find me in my coffin. If you need me, I'll be in my coffin You could come a-knockin' and I'll raise hell for you Oh woah oh, If you need me, I'll be in my coffin I'll be up day-walking, back from the dead for you. If you need me, I'll be in my coffin You could come a-knockin' and I'll raise hell for you Oh, woah, oh, if you need me, I'll be in my coffin I'll be up day-walking, back from the dead for you. Well, maybe I should switch up the style of my mistakes The hearts or promises I tend to prefer to break Oh, but stop the world and melt with me, Friday I'm in love again If you still want me come and find me in my coffin Hold my hands, we'll dance the 12-step on my grave I'd kill the man I am for one more chance to be yours, babe No, I ain't begging. I'm just saying it's an option Don't let the latest be the last nail in the coffin. If you need me, I'll be in my coffin You could come a-knock - and I'll raise hell for you Oh, woah, oh, If you need me, I'll be in my coffin I'll be up day-walking, back from the dead for you.

Wonder how I didn’t die This is not my life. I’m no survivor, I only happened to survive. Wonder how I sleep at night Well I count pink elephants, blessings and skeletons Down the days I have left, with one eye open That was me screaming “Bitch, I am reality.” And stumbling off to lose myself in a brown paper bag cause me and Sweet Evan Williams got a date down on Avenue A staving shakes scraping change till daybreak Turns out anyone can eat out the trash Then wake up on the freeway mid-crash Cause I was drunk when I made my bed Now with a half-decade hangover I lay down in it What have I done? Don’t know what I’ve said It’s a half-decade hangover, either this, in jail, or dead It’s a half-decade hangover, Jesus Christ my aching head Waste not want not borrowed time Lender knows I’ve tried, to make it right, give back my life and if not Take it cause lately I been thinking maybe I could Take it or leave it if I can’t at least break even then I’m leaving when I been feeling this awful since I hit bottom and said “hand me my shovel, I’m going in.” Oh brother – man, you call that recovered? Tripped on a couple steps, and collapsed on the stairs Broke my neck on the backs of those who I’ve hurt and scared Like it’s a good thing, you said “you’ve got your whole life ahead” Oh great, another half a century to live to regret I’d rather be anybody else instead Cause I was drunk when I made my bed Now with a half-decade hangover I lay down in it What have I done? Don’t know what I’ve said It’s a half-decade hangover, either this, in jail, or dead It’s a half-decade hangover, Jesus Christ my aching head Sober, but so much still hangs over Please believe me when I say I poured my whole past down the drain Say that a second chance is a chance I can take But I can’t make amends for things I don’t remember I can only say I’m sorry and occasionally pray Guess you’ll just have to take my word that I’ve changed After one thousand eight hundred twenty five days I was drunk when I made my bed Now with a half-decade hangover I lay down in it What have I done? Don’t know what I’ve said. It’s a half-decade hangover, hand me my ibuprofen It’s a half-decade hangover, Jesus Christ my aching head

Why, I can't see That I am the "me" That I was born into And what's the source of you? In your head, in your head, in your head And yet you believe it's true Well, you do Like you knew anything, ever, never Trust in yourself Or anyone else We've always all been wrong And we built these walls strong Even I might defy, won't deny That I'm trying while my eyes do defy And belie quiet liars as I Say what I say, any way, I might be saying it But I've been wrong before You can break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could you could You can break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could never know Don't you forget That all you project Is just to protect you from The void within the form Yes or no isn't null Yes it is, no, I don't know Yes or no, isn't that a silly question? Ask it anyway, 'cause What we are is What we are not אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה What myths must make us man? What is "is, " what is "not?" What is "what?" What's up party people? What? What I wonder? Why I'm not whatever, what the fuck 'cause You could break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could you could You could break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could never know I noticed that the sunshine is a gaslight I'm hoping that this one might be my past life My Lord, I know enough to get my facts right And that's good enough for me And everything and everyone will die soon And we'll have nothing left for us to lie to No matter what we seek you'll never find truth And that's good enough for me True believers, I said, old time religion Give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion It's good enough for me So give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion It's good enough for me. So give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion It's good enough for me. So give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion Give me that old time religion It's good enough for me. It's good enough but not enough To be good enough for me Cause you could break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could you could You can break a shovel when you break new ground You dig dirt up when you dig deep down You should know better than that by now It's not profound to know that you could never know

I was right there While you fought tooth and nail Gasping in the gas mask thrashing till you disappeared Say you’re not scared, that you know it’s cause I cared and Say you know I love you, and that hope was just not there And I know, I know that I’m wrong That when you’re gone you’re gone And I can’t bring you home But I want, I want to believe That you’ll remember me when you’re just memory Roots in the ground Or uploaded to the cloud or Warm inside our hearts or as electrons in our head – nowhere now Over the rainbow, can I stop by and say hello and Sorry I would take it back if I could but I know To love one from too far to call Is not to love at all, to whom is it I talk? But I want, I want to believe That you can still hear me when you’re just memory Said “it’s okay” And “It’ll be all be over soon" I’d never let a bad thing happen to you Now goodnight I love you And every, everybody dies Fighting for their lives, just trying to survive Well now I know, I know why we say That there’s a better place that waits beyond the grave, oh And I know, I know it’s not true. There’s just no more you but as long as there’s no proof Then I choose, I choose to believe That we’ll met in sweet dreams after you’re put to sleep

Salt on the glass, coke on the knife Is there anything left to escape but life? I didn't sign I didn't sign up for this May today lose what yesterday won Hope that tomorrow I'll get something done I'm gonna run I'm gonna run out of time But, I'll tell you what, I'm not afraid to die I'm more afraid of what might happen first Either way it's not like we'll get out alive I can't say that I know which one is worse Everything's useless, especially songs I think the truth is that everyone's wrong Still sing along Still sing a long, long time I might keep looking for nothing to find They say "Keep trucking, it's all in your mind, Jimmy, you're fine, " End of the line, gaining speed Wrapping trees But, I'll tell you what, I'm not afraid to die I'm more afraid of what might happen first Either way it's not like we'll get out alive I can't say that I know which one is worse But, I'll tell you what, I'm not afraid to die I'm more afraid of what might happen first Either way it's not like we'll get out alive I can't say that I know which one is worse

Have you ever died in a nightmare? Woke up surprised you hadn’t earned your fate? Have you ever felt like Atlas, threw your back out on the axis, and collapsed and threw the planet away? Everyone’s just blood in an ice tray. A vampire picking flowers out in the sun. Run your diagnostic tests, its posited nobody dies agnostic, but we still dial 9-1-1. Now we’re singing Ooh, could you take a look at me? Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad? Now we're singing ooh, whatever you think of me If you were in my shoes, you’d walk the same damn miles I do. Now we’re only tuning to the tone of the bell curve now. Ask not for whom it tolls. But with my head up in the clouds I can see so much ground, and from up here you look like ants in a row. It doesn’t take a killer to murder. No, it only takes the reason to kill. We’ve all got evidence of innocence, it’s ‘everything’s coincidence’ the difference twixt fate and free will is whether you’re singing Ooh, could you take a look at me? Tell me! Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad? Now we're singin' Ooh, whatever you think of me If you were in my shoes, you’d walk the same damn miles I do. So if you wash your hands of where you’ve been until you flood the second floor, Neatly fold your skeletons but still can’t shut the closet door. The only ones in need of love are those who don’t receive enough. So evil ones should get a little more. You! could you take a look at me? Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad? We're singing You! Whatever you think of me; if the shoe fits would you walk that mile? You could put it on the other foot, it’s the same size. You! could you take a look at me? Tell me! Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad? We're singing you oh-oh-oh-oh whatever you think of me If you were in my shoes, you’d see I wear the same size as you.

I’ve been feeling lightheaded since I lost enough weight to fit back in my skin. Flower pedals and feathers tether me to the ground. Pound for pound. Take my tea with formaldehyde for my feminine side since the day that I died. While I whittle my bones until I’m brittle. Am I pretty now? For some reason I find myself lost in what you think of me. And too confused to choose who I should be. And now you’ve got me thinking I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend. Am I pretty enough to lie to? I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend. Just little old me in a big, big world. Little old me in a big world. I wish I were a girl. I’ve been feeling lighthearted since I gained enough weight back to cover my bones. I get dressed up in shadows one leg at a time – we’re so alike. ‘Cause if the shoe fits, then I won’t try it on. You’ll be walking out early, but the show must go on. No, I know that I’m wrong. But I love how you’re on my side when I cross the line. It’s been a point of contention between myself and this body that they stuck me in. The privilege of being born to be a man. And now you got me thinking I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend. Am I pretty enough to lie to? I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend. Just little old me in a big, big world. Little old me in a big world. I wish. Eating your prosthetic meat/meet your anesthetic criteria, pathetic seeing you be copacetic/come acetic. Say my name like a slur, but I’ve been called worse. I’ve heard it all before, and this isn’t a first. Let me be the void you fill with taxidermy fingerprints, taxonomize our differences. I am quantum physics, my witness brings me into existence. I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend. Am I pretty enough to love back? No, not yet. I wish I could be a girl, and really I’d prefer it if you would use I/Me/Myself. Am I pretty enough? Am I pretty enough to fucking die? Little old me in a big world? Well I would give you my whole world. Little old me in a big world. I wish. I wish I could be a girl, and really, I'd prefer it if you would use I/Me/Myself.

You could say I'm plastered, 'cause I hit the wall I lost count after 21 in the college crawl Well, I been a boozin' bastard They're callin' me Edward Forty-hands, can't touch anyone With an enemy like me, who would need a friend? Never mind, I'm drunk Well, we've had enough power since the blackout started For an EKG for the broken-hearted I'd try to see the glass as half full But I'd probably just drink that too Glass half full, I'd probably just drink that too Ooh, yeah. I'm the reason they call it an "Irish Goodbye" Ooh, and I hope I don't choke on my vomit tonight Well, I bet that the bottle of brandy's so bitter'd Be better than bitin' the bullet and betterin' myself Sorry if I slur Take my anxiety and my sobriety I'll kill two birds with one stoner So if you see me please, take my keys I don't wanna be an organ donor yet Well, we've had enough power since the blackout started For an EKG for the broken-hearted I'd try to see the glass as half full But I'd probably just drink that too Glass half full, I'd probably just drink that too Well, I'm going down, and I'm taking you with me I'm bringing the water to the horse So bring me the hair of the dog that bit me So I can clone it and have a little more, haha Well, we've had enough power since the blackout started For an EKG for the broken-hearted Yeah we had no higher power since that blackout started Oh, defibrillate all the broken-hearted I'd try to see the glass as half full Even when I'm empty, half full I try to see the glass as half full But I'd probably just- Woah, yeah! Glass half full, I'd probably just drink that too I'd probably just drink that too

To cut down on my silhouette, my favorite foods are smoke and hearts My leftover frets forget stiletto-self vendettas, While my cracking backbone lacks but backs up my false starts All nightmares start as dreams and I hear my subconscious screaming They say that beauty's just skin-deep So naturally, please show me your bones, bones, bones Let me see your bones Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home Bones, bones, bones Hell, we're all alone If I come home, baby, will you show your bones? Lumps in throats and petticoats, your baby teeth would pray for you A selfish book is always open And some of the best liars only want the truth All love starts as a scheme, so wake me up, I'm tired of sleeping They say that beauty's just skin-deep So obviously, please show me your bones, bones, bones Let me see your bones Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home Bones, bones, bones Hell, we're all alone If I come home, baby, will you show your bones? All nightmares start as dreams, all love starts as a scheme Give me all your LSD so I can feel my mind unweave again They say that beauty's just skin-deep So Anna stands and rends the rancid meat from her bones, bones, bones Let me see your bones Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home Bones, bones, bones Hell, we're all alone If I come home, baby, will you show your bones, bones, bones? I can see my bones Well I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home Bones, bones, bones Hell, we're all alone If I come home, baby, will you show your-

I have mapped the cupboards and drawers Tracked the least-walked spots on the floor Happy to be home, safe and warm As shadows by their feet, the odd vanishing treat Quietly eating while they sleep So here’s where I’ll be raising my kids If I can find someone to start a family with Till then I dream of the day my odds and ends fit I’ll wake up, there’ll be food on the stove forever And never want for more Is there cheese in the great beyond? Rinds of parmesan, wine to water, night from dawn Life gets shorter, teeth grow long Mind me not and I’ll mind my own, and my mind’s Not one bite smaller or lesser than yours Do I belong in “right and wrong?” Nature, I guess. One night one flung light through this place So I run for cover, over under, left the rind out on the plate Little heart racing and praying “something keep me safe, I think it saw my face, okay, One hungry day is nothing, come what may.” But then winter came inside for three nights Left me grinding my teeth between my walls and gripping my dreams tight Curled up kept my head up and put up the fight I’ll make it through again. I have before. Come on now, what’s one more? Is there cheese in the great beyond? Rinds of parmesan, wine to water, night from dawn Life gets shorter, teeth grow long Mind me not and I’ll mind my own, and my mind’s Not one bite smaller or lesser than yours Do I belong in “right and wrong?” Nature, I guess. Spring bloomed in the kitchen again So I crawled out of the wall and squinting Saw hope on the stovetop just like I’d always imagined it More than I could eat, my dreams were finally reality My struggles had a happy ending, they must want to be friends! My stomach starts to turn, with thirst, why does it hurt? My just desert is served, dig in. And so I stumble back to bed Something’s not quite right. Guess I’ll just go rest my head Now as I lay me down to sleep I expect no dreams, and no sweet goodbye to me Flatline in the morning light. I held on so tight for so long It’s just not right, let a sigh out as I close my eyes. Was that all there was to this? What’s for the best? Is there cheese in the great beyond? What’s the moon made of? Meet me there after I’m gone Life gets shorter, teeth grow long Mind me not and I’ll mind my own and my mind Held the same light as the one in your eyes. Do I belong in “right and wrong?” One dies alone? And why? Don’t know. Goodbye. So long. To mice in homes. Nature, I guess. Nature, I guess. Nature, I guess.

They paint the walls with colors that you’re not meant to notice Beiges and browns, off-whites and grayscales Fluorescent lights to shine on the eggshell ground Now you’re lying face down You blend into the background Of white noise They fill the halls with tunes you can’t get into your head 4/4 and Dorian, wrote ‘em for ignoring ‘em Yeah, it sorta sounds like a retro top-40 but wrong You’re not meant to sing along It isn’t that kind of song It’s white noise. But If you listen closely I swear, to God I swear You can hear the ocean if you hold it up to your ear, here: White noise If you listen close between the waves White noise You can hear the ocean through your wake White noise If you listen close between the waves White noise How many times has this happened to you? You go to take out the laundry, and you drop it, and it falls into a black hole? How many times has this happened to you? You're straining your pasta, and your eyeballs fall out into it? How many times has this happened to you? There's a cat. And it won't tell you its name. And you don't recognize the cat, it's not your cat, you don't have a cat. But it's here, and it won't tell you what you need to know in order to properly assess the situation, because the cat is much larger than any cat you've seen before. It's a bear. How many times has this happened to you? You die, and are reborn again into the mind of a grasshopper? Wherein you die once more, and then are reborn again into the mind of your... mom? How many times has this happened to you? You give up. Check one two, check check one two. It’s high fidelity lossless quality, it’s MP 1 2 3 4 5 FLAC It’s polyphonic, the new philharmonic, with a Julliard doctorate. Live from The Metropolitan: It’s theoretically dense, it’s impressive It’s microtonal and it challenges western Notions of art, it’s post-avant-garde It’s going places ‘cause it comes from the heart and Its personality’s a lack of identity. It makes no statement but does so quite loudly It’s an aesthetic, I mean an anesthetic, and its an experience for your seventh sense, yes Does it cure cancer? (Yes, it cures cancer!) Wow! It begs the question just to tell you the answer Do you believe in the power of silence? Well if you walk the walk, can you talk more - (Shh!) Quiet? White noise If you listen close between the waves White noise Woah woah oh oh White noise If you listen close between the waves White noise You fill your head with thoughts you find you can’t even feel Try to make room in your skull, but its full of them All of the things that you think and then think about thinking I know It’s hard But they’re not who you are They’re white noise

In lipstick on the mirror, are the lyrics to my obituary In iambic pentameter, followed parameter, crossing my eyes, dot my T's. I was delivered holding scissors, I live deliberately, I’m a quitter. And a winner anyway, cause I never agreed to participate in this game. Won't follow my dreams cause they all got me waking up screaming I can’t let them go for me, after all there is no “I” in team. And I'd rather be normal. Yes, so normal I suggest that we keep this informal Cause a normal human being wouldn't need To pretend to be normal to be normal Well I guess that's the least that I owe ya. To be normal in a way I couldn’t be. C’mon, c’mon, and love me normally If I could live in third person, well I don’t think life would be much worse than it is In the current tense, presently, this sentence ending in question marks or dot dot dot… Is it courageous or escapist to leave the quarantine when you’re contagious? It may just be a cold, and besides I don’t wanna get old yeah I drank myself to death to be the afterlife of the party When the afterparty came, I was rolling in my grave. And I'd rather be normal. Yes, so normal I suggest that we keep this informal Cause a normal human being wouldn't need To pretend to be normal to be normal Well I guess that's the least that I owe ya. To be normal in a way I couldn’t be. C’mon, c’mon, and love me normally [Spoken] Now this is the part of the song where I talk to my audience. I like to tell 'em there's something I want from you hep cats tonight. I want you to look to your left, look to your right, your 12 o'clock, three o'clock, six o'clock, nine o'clock, rock around the clock tonight. And I want you to find those points of no return, those singularities, those event horizons, those burning rings of fire in the beautiful pupils and the beautiful eyes of the beautiful boy, girl, neither, both, or in-between that you brought with you tonight. And I want you to tell 'em how you really feel. I want you to tell 'em that you love the way that they don't stick out like sore middle fingers. That they crawl their way up the side of the bell curve, stick their flag in the peak, and slide their way back down. I want you to tell them that you love the way that they're not maladaptive, not malcontent, not malignant or maleficent, but rather that you love them exactly the way that everybody else is I was nothing before so I couldn’t have asked to be born I'll be nothing again, so what am I between now and then? Is there nothing to fear? Cause shit's getting weird So to God who made this man, you better have one hell of a plan. And I'd rather be normal. Yes, so normal I suggest that we keep this informal Cause a normal human being wouldn't need. No. To pretend to be normal to be normal Well I guess that's the least that I owe ya. To be normal in a way I couldn’t be. C’mon, c’mon, yeah, I said c’mon, yeah. C’mon, c’mon, yeah, I said c’mon, yeah. C’mon, c’mon, and love me normally

I want to meet your maker, shake him by his ensanguined damask lapels Holler "Look what you've done, gave this planet a sun," "And made a man to wonder if he's more than the sum of his cells" 'Cause you defy creation. I hate you, I hate you, I do Hands to the night sky, praying you might die, before I fall in love with you So call me Amadeus, God made me famous 'cause I am his favorite But I can hate myself so you don't have to. Cause I like you don't you see? I just like you a little more than me. I like you don't you see? Oh, hey, I just like you a little more than me. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh no. I've seen the face of nature, wasted constellations crumpled up in my hands Knowing if you're supernova, your light show is over But too slow to know for sure if it's a part of the plan I hear your heart beating under the floorboards, the rhythm is a gospel to me So how I could stand a chance, let alone dance, with the way you sweep me off these two left feet? So call me Amadeus, but I still can't keep a straight face while I praying But I could crack my kneecaps just to please you. Oh oh oh. I like you don't you see? I just like you a little more than me. I like you don't you see? Oh, hey, I just like you a little more than me. Oh oh oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh no. Dangling a lantern over the event horizon Thinking it'll thank you for the light you're sacrificing Bide time in orbit like a satellite, remind yourself The world don't revolve around you So don't you revolve around someone else And rock me Amadeus! God don't explain the way time and space made us But with the wavelengths bending it makes sense The only thing that's "meant to be" is gravity And what comes up must go down. I like you don't you see? I just like you a little more than me. I like you don't you see? Oh, hey, I just like you a little more than me. Bit by bit and heart by heart, this won't have to end if it doesn't start. Bit by bit and heart by heart, this won't have to end if it doesn't start. Bit by bit and heart by heart, this won't have to end if it doesn't start. Bit by bit and heart by heart, this won't have to end- But it just did.

Your stratospheric fear of catastrophe’s near, fast it’s here Atmosphere past your ears, fall but you’ll neverland Second star to the right… I’m gripping the grass and I’m pulling up daisies Thank matter for mass and the comfort of gravity Airplane eclipses over spirals of math, would or could the impact kill me? Yes, yes, yes. No, no, no, no, no. It’s just the high-noon moon saying “shoot for the stars!” “Be the next big constellation, connect the dots between your parts!” Dandelion seeds yet to ride on the breeze You make a wish upon the dead but turn and call it a weed. Only plastic flowers never die With the bones of a crow and ambitions of candlewax What do you know of control? The wind is simply at your back It really seems pollen’s more clever than bees, so you cue the final words of Leary: And cry “Why, why, why? Why not? Why not? Why not?” I’d rather be a hot-air Hindenburg than an elephant tied right down to its stake Cut ties, shed the dead weight. I ain’t saying it’s fate, but there are no mistakes And dandelion seeds yet to ride on the breeze You make a wish upon the dead but turn and call it a weed. Only plastic flowers never die. While I cry on skies of blue linoleum. Clouds of spilt milk, but am I the cup? Here comes the sun, am I falling up? Falling up. Here comes the sun, am I falling up? Disney-Pixar Ludovico, Shirley Temple maraschino Hotel rooms of Motley Crüe, Broadway producer improv troupes Ray-Bans in your living room, eyeline hurts to be in view like Stage fright only when its karaoke night with friends leave early Did I earn this stupid hat? Is now really a good time for a new tattoo? Oh, is now really a good time for a new tattoo? The larger they are The harder they tend to fall Much larger than life cause from such height Life looks awful small And dandelions grow in dirt Magic mushrooms grow in piles of bullshit I grew up in suburbia. Love us or hate us, pick us you’re killing us, and Dandelion seeds yet to ride on the breeze You make a wish upon the dead but turn and call it a weed Only plastic flowers never die. While I cry on skies of blue linoleum. Clouds of spilt milk, but am I the cup? Here comes the sun, am I falling up? Falling - Dandelion seeds yet to ride on the breeze You make a wish upon the dead but turn and call it a weed. Dandelion seeds yet to ride, am I falling up? All them dandelion seeds yet to ride on the breeze You make a wish upon the dead but turn and call it a weed. Here comes the sun, am I falling up? Oh, is now really a good time for a new tattoo? Your stratospheric fear of catastrophe’s near, fast it’s here Atmosphere past your ears, fall but you’ll neverland. Second star to the right… And straight on ‘till you die.

My dream girl, those eyes, that nose My private inside joke, sign the cast on my funny bone Floral sheets on long-given-up ghosts Haunt my bedroom at night and say “Let’s get you home.” They say “Grow up, be a man, ‘cause until then you’re nothing but a short-haired girl” But come and Braille-palm-read and hold my hand, see my reason and “Goodbye cruel world.” And oh my god, what’s wrong with me? And the wife of Walter Keane, whose name right now’s escaping me… That’s right, Margaret! Dream girl come and sweep me off my knees I’d rather stay asleep than never see you wake up next to me. Neon lights like heat lamps in the cold To incubate the shadows you can’t stitch back to your soles You seemed fine just a few days ago But CO2 and fish tanks do enough to get you home. Well now you swear in your prayers telling time “Promise I’ll never have fun again If you’d stop flying,” but then you start crying “never mind, you win!” And far too late came far too soon And the love you never made became the things you’d never do… Oh, sweet Mary! Dream girl come but keep your hands off me Go on back to bed my love, I mean, that’s where dreams are supposed to be. So come on, William Grow up, be a man, ‘cause until then they’re gonna treat you like you’re just a little girl But come and Braille-palm-read, hold my hands and you’ll see that it’s Me who cries mercy while your fingers curl and Oh are you at all like me? Do you know what I mean? Or am I too close to see? Someone, anyone? Of the two things we do on our knees: watch me fold my hands just to crack my knuckles Well, here is the church, here is the steeple open the doors, see all the people! Alright, that’s enough, let’s get you home.