Slippage

LYRICS

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

Springfield, Illinois
I left you standing by the state house stairs
A little bit annoyed, but completely unaware
Of anything you said
To give me pause as to what goes on inside your head
Was there something I should have seen?
What exactly did you mean?

And you would never be the one to say
"Nothing's worth the work it takes to stay
And it's all a mess
It's stupidness."

Springfield, Illinois
We left you standing by the state house stairs
A little bit annoyed, but completely unaware

And we had never been the ones to say
"Nothing's worth the work it takes to stay
And it's all a mess
Yeah, it's stupidness."
And we had never been the ones to say
"Nothing's worth not imply walking away from this uselessness
Yeah, don't kid yourself."

'Cause I had always been the one to say
"Nothing's worth the work it takes to stay
And it's all a mess
Yeah, it's stupidness."
And I had always been the one to say
"Nothing's worth not simply walking away from this uselessness
"Yeah, don't fool yourself."

Springfield, Illinois
You left me standing by the state house stairs
A little still annoyed, but completely unaware

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STUPID WORDS

Come and sit a little closer now
I wanna see your face in front of mine
Wish I could get behind those eyes somehow
I'd see what you see, I wonder what I'd find

When I looked in my eyes
Would I see some deeper shades of blue
When I listened to my words
Would they sound as stupid to me as they do to you

I'd like to take you out on the town
But I know that's one thing we could never do
When it was late and there was no one around
I'd like to slip inside
And find out what you knew

When you look in my eyes
Do you see some deeper shade of blue?
When you listen to my words
Do they sound as stupid to you as I think they do?

I guess that I should untie you now
It's alright, I know that you will stay
Wish we could have worked these things out somehow
Yeah maybe then I'd know just what you'd say

When you looked in my eyes
Did you see the intentions under the lids?
When you listened to my words
Did they sound as stupid to you as I think they did?

And they did

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WRITE ME OFF

Communication's staticky but somehow you still find
Through all of my jackassery a reason not to mind
And this is not some act, no calculation on my part
I pretty good with endings, but I don't know where to start

It's one thing to have tolerance, another to have faith
I've tried my best to give you my worst, how much will you take?
How much time before you find such a ludicrous cause lost?
And what do I gotta do to help you write me off?
Write me off

With a need for recognition, I am just like anyone
It's your subsequent extension of attention that I shun
So don't await me to reciprocate, I won't pretend to try
I'm pretty good at faking, but I will not tell a lie

Be careful with your confidence, it might just be misplaced
For every good impression, how much bullshit gets replaced?
How much trust must I exhaust before your towel gets tossed?
Yeah, and what do I gotta do to help you write me off?
Write me off

Sooner more than later everyone gets figured out
And I am no exception, it's the suspense I can do without
I'd live on pins and needles if I weren't so full of holes
Some things don't hold water, I'm a slow leak but the pressure grows

It's not to idealistic, it's not some praiseworthy conceit
But it's a bit more realistic if I pre-admit defeat
And all I might suggest is expectations have their cost
Yeah and what do I gotta do to help you write me off?
Write me off.

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SISTER BEAMS

Sister beams with girlish pride and a smile worn ear to ear
A lifetime's dream, a wedding scene, her precious day draws near
An empty home and a life alone, that's all she's ever feared
Yesterday her fiancé, he made his plans real clear

He said, "golden-haired, your sister's fair and she's been so good to me
But a lifetime bound and tied down, that's one I just can't see."
Then he said he must have lost his head when it struck him to agree
He said, "you're a man and you should understand a man has certain needs."

Now every day is just the same
And the hours move by so slow
Every day is like the day before, like every day but I know
It won't be like the one I leave behind me when I go

Sister, she don't talk too loud now that things are through
She's waiting on some old advice but it'll never come true
And she asks me if I'll stay with her but I've got some things to do
You see, now he's dead, he must have lost his head when I struck him
With what to do

Now every day is just the same
And the hours move by so slow
Every day is like the day before, like every day but I know
It won't be like the one I leave behind me when I go

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BUTCHERS

Ben grew up to be the butcher not by choice, it's just the lot in life he found
But he makes a decent living, feeds his family and the people of the town
But there's no dreams brought to fruition, just a gradual attrition
The decayed scraps of ambition he once carved by hand
But there's no time for regrets, it's not as bad as it appears
He's got a lucrative career but he never gets the bloodstains off his hands

A killer frequents bars on Ladies' Night with a steely-eyed command
But he ain't out cruising hookers and he ain't no shady looker, he's a charming, handsome man
His voice says 'ladies' but his mind is thinking 'bitches'
But his pitch is just too much for most of them to withstand
He tells them jokes and he gets them all in stitches
And it goes off without hitches 'till he tries to get the bloodstains off his hands

Nothing good comes easy
Isn't that what you would have me to believe
For every positive endeavor there is a dark side we must weather
You will see, yeah you will see

All the coroners and corpsmen and the slaughterhouse foremen
It's just there job five days a week, please try and understand
It's their lot to get through it, they know someone's got to do it
And try not to misconstrue it when they try to wash the bloodstains off their hands

Now she's had seven years of happiness with a boy she's always claimed to have adored
And there's fewer who've been truer but as of late she finds herself a little bored
She tells him she still loves him and has only good thoughts of him
And the times they've had and hopes that it'll help him understand
When she runs her knife straight through him, it's the only way to do them
She's the winner of the game but she'll never get the bloodstains off her hands

In the end, they all fall just the same but she'll never get the bloodstains off her hands

Off her hands

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SWEETNESS, THAT'S YOUR CUE

What's that smell you ask, I think I know
It's the smoldering of expectations long let go
Would you suggest you might affect some change?
Or are you banking that one decent poke might stoke the flames
Is that your game?

And I know such things aren't the same for you
But what gets me through is all I ever knew
And you can try but you won't bust through
Still I won't hold that against you
Against you.

See I am a sinking ship and I am listing
To and fro with everything I used to know
I am a busted pipe and I am pissing, away
Everything I used to hold
I used to hold.

And I know such things aren't the same for you
But what gets me through is all I ever knew
People try but they don't bust through
Still I won't hold that against you
Against you.

So don't think twice if I disappear
I'll be gone for a little while
I'm gone
Gone.

Now where you been sweetness? I've missed your face
Your resolve seems to have disappeared without a trace
Where's your reassuring tongue? Dear how I've missed your voice
Was it me who silenced you? Yeah, well I had no choice
I had no choice.

And I know such things aren't the same for you
But what gets me through is all I ever knew
People try but they can't break through
Still I won't hold that against you
No matter what you might try and do
Hey sweetness, that's your cue.

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FIND THE OUT

Working hands and a gentle heart
Beacon-like to those in the dark
His wife and family headed home, a flash of chrome
A pothole's teeth makes tires slide
To shoulders too thin to abide
A sleeping driver, wayward truck, now he's stuck

Knotted heart, he cracks and curls
His bedroom becomes his world
Idle curtains block the sun, now he's done
His remaining daughter will suggest
That shutting down is not what's best
Who's to say until you go, I don't know

Still you must concede
That there is still a need, it's true
When you can't find the out like most do

Jamie Jeffries has a plan
And a mother who's his biggest fan
She wants it all for him so much, but she's out of touch
Persuasive friends, a gang of four, the convenience of convenience stores
A borrowed gun was his best bet, and now he's set

Still you must concede
That there is still a need, it's true
When you can't find the out like most do
And still you must confess
That things are still a mess, for sure
When you're less in her eyes than before

So you've wrung your eyes of all their tears
And you caught them in a glass
To save them for some day next year, when you're waxing over your past
And should you ever begin to believe
That the good part was worth all the waste
Find your glass of last year's tears and you take a taste

Still you must concede
That there is still a need, it's true
When you can't find the out like most do
And still you must confess
That things are still a mess, for sure
When you're less in her eyes than before

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DOWN TOWN AGAIN

The kids are loud, the house it stinks
He cracks a beer and pours another drink
Says he needs some time to think
Hindsight askewed, today's the day
She'll be home soon, the kids'll be okay
He finds the keys and drives away

The barroom reeks a golden stench
Assume your place upon the weary bench
You take the hit, don't even flinch
And the ghosts of friends who've moved along
Can still be felt but they don't sing along
To your stubborn, stupid song

You've been pretending loss could be your gain
But in the end you're just as lame

Now where have you been? You've been in the down town again
And it's the same old thing:
The flailing fall, the flake and wallow, forsaking friends
And where have you gone? 'Cause you been gone so damn long.
Okay, what's wrong,
Are you the only one to have ever once felt strong and then lost where you belong?

Some buffer for the years ahead
Means nothing if you're living dead
Now where have you gone?

Your thoughts are dulled, her words are sharp
Your memory's stained, you make the disconnect between the heart and brain
You figured loss could be your gain
You read the contract and you signed your name
Said goodbye and walked away

You figured loss could be your gain
In some fickle lease that's paid in shame
But in the end you're just as lame
In sad attempts to pluck some gem
From down below and deep within
With hazy eyes and sallow skin you wait to find just

Now where have you been? You've been in the down town again
And it's the same old thing:
The flailing fall, the flake and wallow, forsaking friends
And where have you gone? 'Cause you been gone so damn long.
Okay, what's wrong,
Are you the only one to have ever once felt strong and then lost where you belong?

And what have you seen? Was it all that you had ever dreamed?
Is there beauty to be dredged and skimmed in filthy nets
And lifted from these beery depths?
To be dragged and strewn upon the shore or simply scraped up off the floor
Attested to through glass-bottom eyes soft and sad and sore
Where have you been?

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LIVE ON IN THE DARK

Once you eyes they shone like flashlights, fountains of clarity
And the most alkaline of batteries were you and me
Free of failure, flicker or fade
Yeah but depending where you're from too much daylight can seem like an oddity
And devotion is a commodity, so with you it seems
It only comes in trade
Yeah but the first time the bill isn't paid, it's too late

So you just live in the dark
You could drive but you just park
You just talk when you could sing
And now it doesn't mean a thing
You could bite, but you just bark
You could light but you just spark
You live on in the dark

Rolling papers, bottles and needles, and people we trusted
Our eyes just become too adjusted
We'd be busted
If sightlessness were a crime
So now I guess I should be searching for matches but I don't see what's the use
Engines run 'till they're out of juice
And I can't even produce
Fuel enough to light your face
And that's a light I will never replace in time

So I just live on in the dark
I could drive but I just park
I just talk when I could sing
And now it doesn't mean a thing
I could bite, but I just bark
I could light but I just spark
I live on in the dark

It's as if we've only ever come together just to test each other's mettle
Or to justify subsistence or bolster our resistance to the idea that we should struggle
When we could just settle

So you just get numb to every itch
And there's no feeling in your fingertips
And you can't find the switch
And we've grown much too tired to grope
Yeah, we lost all our fire to cope a long time ago

So we just live on in the dark
We could drive but we just park
We just talk when we could sing
And now it doesn't mean a thing
We could bite but we just bark
We could light but we just spark
We live on in the dark

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BACK

When I find my way back
Everyone will see
How much I have missed them
And how much they mean to me
When I find my way back
Everyone will know
How much I love them so

When I find my way back
No one will deny
How much I care for them
And how hard that I've tried
When I find my way back
You will know it by and by
That all the hype was justified

When I find my way back
My heart will fill with everything it lacks
And once again we will be friends
And I will never get lost again
When I find my way back

When I find my way back
Everyone will be there
To forgive me my transgressions
And all the shit I've shared
When I find my way back
Everyone will understand
How truly sorry I am

When I find my way back
My heart will fill with everything it lacks
And once again we will be friends
And I will never get lost again
When I find my way back

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