It was that one strange summer We walked all over doing things That we've already done now Looking for something new We watched ourselves in windows And ate at all our favorite places Wandered over familiar streets Thinking of our own Our friends were living reckless From Armenia to Texas One got caught up with the Triads So they sent him up North Go run your little world Now I'm listening to the dial tone Trying to fight urban displacement Stressing on express trains And rushing everything I want to roll my bike down the hill (Dahill) Breathe gasoline through my nostrils Find a piecemeal piece of landfill And pedal my way home Go run your little world And why should we wake up The more that we wake up The more that we take up Yeah why should I wake up The more that I wake up The more that I make up Go run your little world And the kid you know from LA Is acting hectic and shaky Blaming the Lexapro Maybe the boys will come back one day Maybe there never was a golden age

Every person on this subway has better satires than the movies Yet everyone is staring down at their phones Listening to something in their ears Not even concerned with how the hell we got here All these new new yorkers And their online yelp curiosity Brain pressing assembly line for Long Island youth They all attend New York University I'm not scared of dying but I'm scared of going blind I've been walking around these boulevards Only thing is despair is all I find Finding Jesus at 22 Wonder who I'll find at 23 Changing who you are can be so complicated Not as complicated as not changing at all Contemplated moving to minneapolis Just to find a way to pass the time Heard your group is driving through twin's city We're all just wandering this promise land until we find a sign I'm not scared of leaving but I'm scared of going bald Scared of another earthquake Shaking all my pictures off these walls

Everyday is just hot or rain Another minute, another record breaks As we endeavor across these Great Lakes Spent half your life planning trips The other half you're taking flight So many toxins in the air Escapism, voyeurism, without a care Comfort with insignificance Comfort in the seasons’ change Bringing something new Anything new Keep me thinking of you And everyone else Just not myself Bliss in listlessness Bliss in listlessness Whether it's just the cars or the clout Seems to me that New York's played out

Watching poker in MacDonald Park I told you that I loved you, you didn't know where to start My face went pale, the sky went dark I headed back to Boston with a bruising broken heart And while waiting for the train Thoughts of how this happened couldn't help but fill my brain You waited to warn me, I apologized and explained You gave me no second chances, just insinuated I'm insane Yours is my heart alone That's why I'm never coming home Yours is my heart alone Graduated unemployed and hopeless Job hunting feels forever when you're staying with Frances Befriended bartenders and left them hefty tips Nervous in New Jersey, American Anxious Takes time rising off the couch By the time I was ready you decided to walk out Balancing boyfriends proved a mighty task Dreamt I was Surfer Joe, left me no looking back Yours is my heart alone Thats why I'm never coming home Yours is my heart alone Alone

It must be beautiful today Wherever you are To keep you away, away from here It was a bright Poughkeepsie April And the view from your window I felt myself getting used to I was a sometime visitor of that place But it's been disappeared for years And I can't go back to that now And all these Elinors in Sioux City Are made of silhouettes and ice When they're alone they act so gritty When they're together they're full of spite You call my name like an insult But you wear it like a crown Funny how we look hanging upside down Pulling in snakes and spitting out profits I'm doused in frankincense and myrrh Dressed in robes for new faces And rags for old acquaintances Those new faces surround me everyday Each rehearsing for what I'd like to say Isaiah and Julia come together Armed with a map of cautions they could take There's an automatic apostrophe As if I was possessive Then I get hooked, oh I got hooked On cheap food and a free connection And all the Charlottes in Duluth All walking around in need of proof Donating names for somewhere far away Getting together on high holy days You call my name like an insult But you wear it like a crown Funny how we look hanging upside down

Feeling free for freedom's sake The days are getting shorter, the Bethlehem has lost its way Her jobs in retail, selling shoes west of Broadway Community college in Pennsylvania, Rockaway to the Keystone State Crossbay's unfamiliar in fall After kicking at the city center, the Lehigh Valley Mall When New York is your hometown Boring battles almost led her to Seattle, when the city got her down And on bus commutes is where she dreams Of a world where her lovers listen to her anxieties and pleas Where her manager lets her be Where her overbearing family treats her and her brothers equally Late night thoughts, Q53 And when the shoe store shut its doors She got a job working for a lawyer, she started cleaning out her drawyers Doesn't live with her family anymore Long time since nights at the Delaware River, skipping rocks and keeping score Met a man online Makes a questionable living, but gets her to work on time Listens to the same bands that she likes Went from fitting rooms and discounts, to pubs in Woodlawn Heights And she thinks back on those dreams Her family still overbearing, she's still wishing she got her bachelor's degree But a gentle partner who lets her breathe And a steadier income is more than she ever would have conceived She misses the customers that she meets But she'd never miss the partners, narcissistic and naive Got rid of past boyfriends she once reprieved No more late night bus rides, Q53

Hide behind your glasses and sleeping in the snow Walking up high hills trying to take it slow Mold grows on the ceiling maps the places that I've been Cracks around your floor like something trying to get in Got stuck in Golgotha with you still in the garden Genuflecting so much that out knees begin to harden Give it a rest You're from Budapest Wish I could call it a day I see you when I see my face I wish I could call you today Won't you wade in the water with me Hide behind your glasses and sledding in the snow Walking up high hills trying to take it slow Mold grows on the ceiling maps the places that I've been Cracks around your floor like something trying to get in Got stuck in Golgotha with you still in the garden Genuflecting so much that our knees begin to harden Give it a rest You're from Budapest Wish I could call it a day I see you when I see my face I wish I could call you today Won't you wade in the water with me

Going antique shopping On a spring Saturday morning It should be so sweet But we ripped our diplomas It was unbearably boring Made our way towards North 3rd street Counting down the seconds Until we'll be in different continents You danced to the downbeat Must have blown out your eardrums Because as we headed down the highway You didn't let me speak Days spent laughing underneath the trees We could have scaled boulders Reading stories of Vashtie We could have climbed the mountain And reached the highest peak But the path that you've chosen I'd better accept it Cause it doesn't include me Flipped through the Haggadah You scoffed at my speech Told me i was being sensitive I remember our dinners Kind words that you gave me Before it became argumentative I listened to your screenplay I caught each of your tears I drove you to Cold Spring I think i need another Summer Maybe meet another lover Before i buy you our wedding ring I thought you attended the banquet of the queens Thought you were into this rebellion Not to bow down to some king But once more I'm left alone on East Fifteenth Thinking to myself, how was I fooled looking for my Vashtie How was I fooled Once I loved And you held me close, and I stayed Once I loved But love is the saddest thing Love is the saddest thing when it goes away

Wednesday night ended in Westchester Stayed on Metro North way past the Bronx Fell asleep a couple stops too late A few too many drinks for this valedictorian Been dating a bouncer Almost a decade older, who lives with an intolerant aunt Went from graduating with honor To cab rides alone and drunk Got a few friends good with a camera Also good with a bottle, and getting sucked into black holes Spend days slowly getting hammered To forget how her family just judges and cajoles Told me to cherish the spaces Because once you leave forever, they burn away like coal Wednesday nights are in Westchester Thursday nights, just damage control I really hope, I really hope You can find a few friends who can help you cope And if you can, find a few friends Cause slippery slopes can lead to dead ends Again and again Friday night is with the bouncer Had a couple toxic partners but I think this is the one Can this relationship move faster Need a little more stability since graduation Sunday morning smoke cures a hangover Passes time until Monday comes When awards don't seem to cut it Pack another bowl with Tuesday's lunch I really hope, I really hope You can find a few friends who can help you cope And if you can, find a few friends Cause slippery slopes can lead to dead ends I know you know, I know you know That I know you better than these friends seem to think so And if you can, find a few friends Cause slippery slopes often end to dead ends Again and again Again and again