If This is It - The Fugitives

I guess we get sick of the cinnamon world

and the cadence of these smiles

I guess we get scared of life’s little rhythms

and the mean streak to the narrow mile

we’re some of the ones who stare up at the gun

and the starting line under our toes

spit and cough when they set the thing off

and grow accustomed to the smell of the smoke

maybe we’re the weaker ones

maybe we scream ourselves deaf

but the suits can sparkle and the stars can circle

till we balance this book of regret

if this is it, if this is it

I’d like to wear my leather down to weary soles

that still know how to walk alone or dance aloud

when they ask you what you want

you don’t say «drown slowly»

you don’t crook a tether to your heart

get hooked on what’s easy

you don’t ask for a rope

outside your door an army of strangers

wait to hide you in their negligence

ready to take you at those words

people love to bury what is special

a human being, no exception

if you let them they’ll talk 'real' to you

about the difficulty of dreams

to bounce off you don’t have to be a wrecking ball

just hang around long enough to know

the thrust of your attention will fire people

like pinballs into lighted faces

put your hands on a lover so much

they’ll remember their bodies for the rest of their lives

fight without a knife or a suit

history’s horrible role of always fighting the flow.

let the waves take you

when they ask what you want

you don’t say drown slow.

if this is it, if this is it

I don’t wanna take it lying down

but they’ve spun us so we’re spinning now

and I wish sometimes I never learned to swallow

as this placticine pageant plays out on tv

and their camera crowns another king

time is sold in moments too tiny to hold

so we won’t remember a thing

let’s amplify lungs with a living microphone

and the light of a million sparkling eyes

as they shine their teeth and patrol our street

in their army of the perfect life

if this is it, if this is it

I’d like to tip my hat and go

find something more than who-you-know

or what you have or what you don’t

or what you cannot live without

we’ll find a taste of forest breath

and build a hammer into our chest

and pound it like we won’t wake up tomorrow

and dance without music

and dance without sound

and dance without looking