I need to get out of this town Before it swallows me whole Next time I see you around Hope that I don’t lose control Caution: Productivity is just around the bend It’s not healthy to be in your city again So send me a letter from your new address And hope that I return your call We always hurt each other less and less When we’re not talking at all… all… Fall is here again I need a friend Or at the very least A competent lease on life We’ll all depend on traffic signs And never make our minds up We’ll get fucked up outside And keep our eyes shut tight More wine and speculation tonight

Thoughts on the way we used to feel once We were coughing up our lungs Up our hearts Up our thoughts Sunday dinner medications Up our sleeves Up our noses Upper class Sign of the cross Sign of the times, you blew my mind apart I’m starting my day off right Curbing this appetite for you It will be a lovely sight When all these strangers catch the flu Light me up Shake my hand Pray for the ones That don’t understand… “This black lung it tears our insides apart We used to cough up love But now we cough up blood Cough up daisies Rise above…” Dandelions in your grocery cart Sign of the times, you blew my mind apart Words from the way we used to talk once We were speaking all in tongues My impatience, second to none White lines and transparent faces Up in arms Up for breakfast Up the dosage We’re all at a loss Sign of the times you blew my mind apart I’d just started to see the light When all these promises fell through Out of sight, Out of mind Blinded by this narrow point of view Shake me up Light the fuse Take this cup Tie the noose… “This black lung it tears our insides apart We used to cough up love But now we cough up blood Cough up daisies Rise above…” Clever imitations hiding in the dark. Sign of the times you blew my mind apart

Plastic cookie cutters We’re muttering with the walls Drastic undertakers Preparing for the fall Our fathers will forsake us Waiting for a call From some brand new stock traders Claiming this is all We need In order to succeed Plant the seed And sign the deed Illegible cover letters Invisible paper cuts They say we’ll all sleep better With our bedroom doors shut So re-ignite your centers Let’s all breathe in the dust From another tired lender Claiming that we must Retreat Agonizing streets And cars Are on My brain You’re insane and I’m okay with it We both at times occasionally fit the mold It’s growing colder As we all get older It’s growing colder As we all get older Than the rest Another acid test For the soldiers Sleeping in their beds Pretending to be dead A convenient way for all our heads To explode I know, you know At the end We all Reload

The next wave of peaceful protestors Are having problems Understanding the cause Uniformly funded by investors Claiming overtime For every loss Standard practices have failed us The general public’s grown obscene Narcissistic shades of love and lust The broken hearted shout… Quarantine! We must contain The spread of this disease See the people on their knees We are all we need The seeds are underneath Ready to bloom We’ll both see Blue Rooms in June Go ahead and keep assuming I’m doing fine Consuming the gloom We’ll both see, Blue Rooms in… June and then it’s February Emmett and Mary are… Already ready for the spring But there’s this thing Between you and me It’s not so complicated Eventually, you will see That all the leaves On the trees Fall from grace So pleasantly I hope to be Next to you And all the bumblebees When we both see Blue Rooms in June…

Administrative Assistants Resisting arrest Why must we persistently protest? A lesson learned A candle burned before bed The cold and flu season Turned my insides into goo Only half of us are immune To these dizzy spells And who the hell are you… Don’t include me In your dreams Unless you mean it Leave my bullshit Alone… You hypocrite We’ll get our fill When we eat the pill We’ll get our fill When we eat the pills Eat the pills Eat the pills But I can’t tell you much else about This open ended story Something tells me that you’re the type To go and worry yourself away Wasting all your Saturdays alone We have done nothing but grown apart… Waiting for the midnight show to start We’ll meet in my backyard “We were once happy astronauts Up before dawn But you and I have already said enough It’s your turn to call my bluff”

Only guy in the bathroom The cars keep coming, the cars keep coming Debutante with the new 'do The cars keep coming, the cars keep coming The car is coming too soon for you The afternoon Stretches on and on She’s up at dawn Searching for the cigarette Her last regret The black ash on her dress Not listening to what he said I said… “Every single thing I say seems to float right over your head Instead Of Making you believe That I am the one and only guy you should be asking to leave Oh please Just leave with me” Psychedelic Interlude Baptized flower children Are never quite in the mood To cure the pains that ill them So they just let this nonsense consume them Their excuses Stretch on and on All the meaning’s gone He leads the way A new escape is tempting her to Validate this mess She loves to hate the things he says I said… “Every single thing I say seems to float right over your head Instead Of making you believe That I am the one and only guy you should be asking to leave Oh please Just leave with me” Uniforms for winter Weather marks on the charts Frozen hearts Slowly defrost for us The microscopic glimmer Of what we were once We all adjust In God we trust Enough But I’m not having fun Shivering in my bed Always on the run Interpreting the things he said I said… “Every single thing I say seems to float right over your head Instead Of Making me believe That I am the one and only guy you should be asking to leave Just leave with me”

Abandoning reason Never felt so good Another season Of hiding in the woods You we understood We were understood The needle leapt Like a polygraph Stop the laughing children in my head Tell them that it’s time to make their beds And fall asleep, dreaming of A future game of push and shoving Some alarm is buzzing… *Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do* I asked the flowers “How’s it going today? Are you ready to be plucked For mechanical parades?” “Are you going to save us?” They tenderly replied We’re not quite ready To be satisfyingly Thrown away Safe the date Tell your mother That you’re okay Forget to remind her Of the same mistakes The streetlights faded Before we found our way The path back home was Undeniably gray We were once like saints Forcibly restrained I miss the way we used to wander Mindlessly we shouldn’t bother Each other, anymore As we fall asleep Reasoning whether or not The door is locked Follow the flock And keep yourself awake Hum this tune for your own sake: *Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do

We were often lied to As kids we tried to hide from Everything was see-through As we avoided the dark end of town All the dead voices Try to sing the chorus But they start to bore Us to death Circle round the scripture Try to stir one Mr. Rationally Hip Sir Out of his head We’ll just pretend to Understand… Supplemental compliments Circumstantial Accidents Fair weathered friends Always expect the best Never get offended by Untimely deaths On the television set Disinfected Debutantes Aren’t sure what disease they’ve caught It’s a brand new renaissance Say that you forgot All of my suggestions And I’ll ignore the pillow talk We are full of love Dangerous affections Always seem to slow the clock Modern day distractions Founded in forget-me-nots Founded in forget-me-nots

Systematic Variables Losing control I lost my soul We lost our souls We found our homes Underground We ran out of room to roam We left our homes without Knowing if there was time To close… The Deal The Door We were bigger than all that came before And we were sizeable in comparison to the Lord Your God is on your side While mine is having problems Feeling inspired by the cold So please don’t confirm Anything or everything that we were meant to learn And you will see All of these indignities weren’t meant to be endured I can reassure you I won’t be returning in the fall Maybe in the spring We can install… Better firewalls Locks on the bathroom stalls A phone to call a friend Or lover At the end Of it all

Annie died on a Saturday night Of a broken heart From the opposite side Of the street While Casey flew Like a black balloon With the business suits In their front row seats This blockbuster missed the mark But helped us kill some time Before the news When we all stop seeing sparks It means that somebody Forgot to light the fuse We’ve crossed users and abusers Acquaintances forsaking us Clueless love-struck losers Claiming that the world’s unjust Sentimental astronauts Follow up their second thoughts With freeze-dried tangerines This schematic reads In order to escape We must relate Debate Overstate Fall back down and complicate Everything’s exaggerated But sometimes we love and Hate the way These day-to-days Stay the same Like the faces we’ve created Out of thin air I don’t care anymore Sidney died. It was suicide And a broken heart While Laney packed her things But Aimee and Drew Couldn’t find a clue Despite the brand new Purchased diamond rings These sensations failed both Lee and me Emmett and Mary can deduce That the more we act like family The harder it becomes to reproduce We’ve catalogued our bruises Pathetic medics all do suspect That we’re not immune to this Technological Epidemic Voluntary attendants Can’t help but act offended From public reckonings While the neighbors sing: In order to escape We must relate Debate Overstate Fall back down and complicate Everything’s exaggerated But sometimes we love and Hate the way These day-to-days Stay the same Like the faces we’ve created Holding shares, I don’t care anymore Margery died Of collegiate pride Walking home Irresponsibly While Susie’s fate Came two weeks late The one-night stand Warranted a baby As for the order of Josephine We heretics can’t explain her ruse Red, blue, yellow, black and green All colors turn to white Before the muse We march blindly through the forest Experimental clientele Our minds forget to warn us That the sounding of the steeple bell Signifies a riot cell Residents of heav’n and hell Are close to invading While the angels sing In order to escape We must relate Debate Overstate Fall back down and complicate Everything’s exaggerated But sometimes we love and Hate the way These day-to-days Stay the same Like the faces we’ve created Despite their stares, I don’t care anymore And then Joan died While I tried to find The remains of my head In the hotel lobby Ken replied And sympathized Talking to the dead Is just a hobby I can’t recall Ramona’s face Although I’m sure that she still looks the same Vanishing without a trace Makes the fakers remember your name Soothsayers and debaters Frightened by the status quo Don’t need to explain to us We already know what they already know Before we reap what we sow Someone has to start the show With comical relief It gets harder to believe that In order to escape We must relate Debate Overstate Fall back down and complicate Everything’s exaggerated But sometimes we love and Hate the way These gray days Stay the same Like the faces we’ve created Fair is fair, I don’t care anymore