When you flew to California, you thought things would be different, Oh you could get loose and reckless on the other side of the country, Where nobody knows your name, you can get lost in a crowd, Where you can take your blank slate, oh, and bury it underground But there's nowhere you can go, It's just a housing grid, There is no place to call home, You're just a point in it And I can see the patchwork, patchwork sprawled right over you, Like cities from above, cities from above, And boy you're just the same, the same, oh, you ain't nothing new, Like cities from above, cities from above When you got to LAX, you thought that things would change, Like a million volts of energy rewiring your brain, You took a hike near Eagle Rock and shouted towards the ground, "I am something powerful, and I own this whole fucking town" But there's nowhere you can go, It's just a housing grid, There is no place to call home, You're just a point in it And I can see the patchwork, patchwork sprawled right over you, Like cities from above, cities from above, And boy you're just the same, the same, oh, you ain't nothing new, Like cities from above, cities from above You're in way over your head, They say the oceans will rise up until we all are dead, And looking down from space, O, they won't see a single light illuminate this place, O, they'll see waves and oceans covering the human race, O, they won't see the cities where you don't dare show your face And I can see the patchwork, patchwork sprawled right over you, Like cities from above, cities from above, And boy you're just the same, the same, oh, you ain't nothing new, Like cities from above, cities from above

When they finally found him, he was cold in the garage, Swaying side by side next to the car, The smile on his face implied that he'd found peace with God, But how do you explain that to a family? When everybody gathered to pay their last respects, They laid hands on your shoulders said, "If you ever need help, Don't hesitate to call me in the middle of the night, But I don't wanna talk about what happened." You know it's not right, How they treat your life, You're on display like, The ghosts of the ocean And then the flowers wilted, you had to settle in, You wanted to keep moving for the sake of your kids, But everybody's whispering as if you don't exist, They want that kind of grief to be a myth And in the long nights, You close your eyes tight, And disappear like, The ghosts of the ocean And when you took your son out to the museum, He pointed at the shark bones suspended from the ceiling, He asked you how they got there from deep below the sea, "He was just a fish, he don't deserve this" Soul of a great white, Use all of your might, Put up a fight like, The ghosts of the ocean

O, in the darkness, She wrote your name, On a million scraps of paper, and threw 'em into the rain, Watched that ink bleed, Onto the pavement, As a hundred sets of tires drove directly over them And there is no place you'll find peace, Nor an overwhelming sense of relief, 'Cause you know there's no medals for chasing the devils away Into a glass, She poured two fingers, of the finest scotch in Brooklyn, and knocked it back with such conviction, Said, "If I'm to fix, All which has ailed me, Then I'd rather go out drinking, and call a cab when the sun is breaking" And there is no place you'll find peace, Nor an overwhelming sense of relief, 'Cause you know there's no medals for chasing the devils away And you have been spending all of your years, O, surrounded by demons and facing your fears, But now all of your laundry is piled up high, And the dust on your floor, it is starting to rise, Because it takes a mountain to move just an inch, And the climb out of bed is some harrowing shit, And when all your friends ask you if you're doing fine, You say "I could be better, I could be better" There is no place you'll find peace, Nor an overwhelming sense of relief, 'Cause you know there's no medals for chasing the devils away

Sunday mass is such a mess, the parking lots packed with spirits who want to get from just point A to B, And heaven sounds so convenient through restless nights awake in bed, It's hard to believe there's a place for peace Will I feel this way forever? This haunting suicidal presence, O, I have never once believed in sin, Will I feel this way forever? Praying to the winter weather, O, Mother Mary, speak it to the wind And the afterlife, O maybe it's a cabin in the woods, On a freezing night, all curled up by the burning firewood, I am not a man of faith, so I need something to replace, The comfort that can come to holding on to holy psalms Will I feel this way forever? This haunting suicidal presence, O, I have never once believed in sin, Will I feel this way forever? Praying to the winter weather, O, Mother Mary, speak it to the wind I know in the coldest nights, Everything will freeze to ice, I know in the coldest nights, Everything will be alright, Will be alright, will be alright Everything will be alright, everything will be alright Will I feel this way forever? This haunting suicidal presence, O, I have never once believed in sin, Will I feel this way forever? Praying to the winter weather, O, Mother Mary, speak it to the wind O, cover me in snow, and bones, and skin, O, wrap me up in blankets 'til the Spring, So I can curse the sunshine once again

When we woke to greet the early morning, We did not intend to feel this good, A long night of drinking in New Orleans, It feels good to leave our neighborhood Everyone seems nice here, I wonder if they'd care, If I stayed forever, and dragged in my despair O, but I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me, I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me Fill the car with presents for our families, Refrigerator magnets and snow globes, But we were having trouble just imagining, How we would feel when we made it back home, 'Cause everyone seems sad there, they've got the small town blues, The air all feels recycled, the brand names all feel new O, but I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me, I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me When we wrote our names next to the ocean, We knew that they'd be wiped out by the tide, But we would not let ourselves be so broken, 'Cause we would write them again in due time Everything seems fine here, the wind it blows so wild, Everyone's got problems, and I'm working on mine O, but I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me, I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me And I'd be Whistling Dixie like a petrel on the sea, I would take your hand if you are reaching out to me