let’s dance on the eggshells we planted about
well, aren’t you sick of just going around
i got all i could out of playing it nice
there’s glory in anger
there’s goodness in vice

there’s just no reason why we should behave
we did what we’ re told and yet nothing was saved
we got all we could out of playing it nice
there’s glory in anger
there’s goodness in vice

set me free from you and
i’ll set you free from me
but first
let’s tear our home to pieces
let’s make the neighbors call the police
let’s tear our home to pieces
let’s find some furious sweet release

if you’re going to break my heart
then please just do it fast
if you’re going to crush my hopes
then hurry while they still last

i know you wish you could just run
but, honey, so does everyone

i’ve given up hope
i’ve given up on us
i’ve given up hope on you

if it’s going to be like that
then please just act your age
if you’re going to be like that
at least you do it offstage

i know you wish you could just run
the world won’t stop for anyone

i’ve given up hope
i’ve given up on us
i’ve given up hope on you

i know you wish you could just run
the world won’t stop for anyone

never wear the same suit twice when people come to see you play
always mind your hair and mind your manners put your words away
you can’t always tell when somebody is taking a picture so just look good

you know it all comes down to
it always will come down to
blood and bones
bones and blood

here’s another round another crowd for you to charm alone
smoke a cigarette and put it out and soon you can go home

you know it all comes down to
it always will come down to
blood and bones
bones and blood

if you go and leave me now
you’re never going to know how good i could become
in a couple of years i’d be cooking you dinner
in a couple of years i’d be giving you children

if you go and leave this now
you’re only going to know the worst part of me
i’m studying to become a better person
and i’ve only just begun to get the point of the lesson

which of the sheets in the closet are yours
which of the napkins in the drawers are yours
which of the glasses in the cupboard are yours
c’mon and stay

which of the t-shirts that i sleep in are yours
which of the records in the shelves are yours
how about the cat, is it mine or yours
c’mon and stay

c’mon and stay

life is good by the ones you love
when the ones you love behave
cause when they don’t it makes you mad
but you breathe in deep and brave it

the vilest thing about family
it’s that they own your heart for life
they can make it hurt and make it bleed
and they don’t even have to try

try and enjoy the scenery
and the lovely, tangy wine
get your hopes down from where they’re hung
and be sure to hold the line

can we skip right to the part when everything is okay
when the rocky path we trod is far enough away
when we can remember the good times and have a laugh
when it’s clear in both our minds we’d never take it back

you’ll tell me that you like my new shirt
i’ll tell you that i love your new shoes
i’ll let you know it’s so good to see you
you’ll let it slip you found someone new

can’t we just agree that this is not the way to go
that we’ve had more than enough of the devil we know
it has grown so tall and it’s got a mind of its own
if we let it loose you know it’ll chew us to the bone

it comes up from the ground just to haunt you
it creeps up and no one else can see
and the harder you try just to look the other way
well the harder it bites at your sanity

all the anger you felt surging through you
all the pain that you thought was behind you
all the love you once felt, all the love that was gone
it comes up from the ground just to haunt you

i don’t know but i have been told
there are people you can look up in the right boulevards
in their dingy offices
they’ll take care of you
they’ll patch you up, they’ll keep you all from
crying

in their dingy offices
cluttered with paper stacks
and artifacts to keep you all from
crying

if i felt as good as you
i would take to wearing gold
if i knew the things you do
i wouldn’t dread this getting old

no it doesn’t take a genius
to get where you’re coming from
oh this heart that i’ve neglected
it could sing a different song

your eyes full of sullen wisdom
full of sorrow for my failures
your head full of blissful boredom
you’ve given up on my troubles

no it doesn’t take a genius
to get where you’re coming from
but this heart that i’ve neglected
it won’t sing a different song

they think you’re bad but you think they’re worse
you’ll bring them down with a single verse
and they’ll never know what has hit them ’til
you take over the world and bend it at your will

easy to miss that you had a plan
but they’ll curse themselves once they understand
fodder for their jokes all those years and still
you take over the world and bend it at your will

they can be relied on but they sure can’t sing
beaches in the summer mountains in the spring
everyday’s another small step up that hill
and you take over the world and bend it at your will

(words and music by Brett Lunsford)

clever knot
you’ve tied a very clever knot
knew it once but since it’s long forgotten
cord is rotten
come untied

strike the lord
his labor tactics are a bore
by any self respecting man will last
what comes to pass
his will be done

leap of faith
on cold doubting tones we can brace
dawn and dusk whenever life’s too dim
life’s too grim
feel your way

clever child
another category to be filed in
and defiled by
watcher’s need

leisure time
you’ve exhaled a breath that was your prime
gasp now for the reasons you’ve behaved
soul enslaved
to no one

clever knot
i’ve tied a very clever knot
knew it once but since it’s long forgotten
cord is rotten
come untied

you swan go on

(words and music by Phil Elverum)

As good as I could possibly imagine my life getting, it did
After I met you
The way you reached inside my chest and pulled out things and sent them off in breaths blew
And as good as it got with all the layers peeling off, and though I writhed
I could not upset you
With your hand down my throat you held on to my heart and pumped blood through

And then “it’s time to go” you said, “it’s time to go out
You little gray goose
Get out from under my wing” you said “you swan go on go out you’re turned loose”

Oh! so it’s over
Oh! so we died
Oh! so your hand on my heart pumping blood went limp”and oh! I flied!
Oh swan inside.