Through Being Cool


01. All-Star Me


This isn't the way we planned
I wasn't supposed to forget your taste
Like nights spent figuring all the ways that we came to this place
There we were alone on top of your old rooftop in Highland Park
But ask me now..
Say, "Chris look out across the sky and tell me which way the wind blows."
A core of coal
A core of coal and starches in within me
But even now that you're not here
I climb these mountains of houses every night
I say your name and I wish I could have done things right.


02. You Vandal


Last night I dreamt you called from Costa Rica
The place you've been for the last two weeks
You said, "I miss you, oh sweet boy, and will you come on down?"
I woke up to my cold sheets and the smell of New Jersey
When do I get to wake up to you?
Today I can't forget that I've got these open wounds
It's such a drag
I can't forget you've gone
My ribs have parted ways
They said, "We're not going to protect this heart you have."
Oh no, what can I do?
My lungs are breathing open air
And my spleen is dripping from my pants
You've left me here in the cold
And I miss you
You never told me it would be this hard
I think my body's saying so
When you're not here, it's leaving me
But I hope that you're o.k.
Even though I'm dying
I hope that you're still trying to have a killer time
Go see the volcanoes
Go see the rainforests
I'll be fine by myself
I'll be fine without these bones.


03. Shoulder To The Wheel


And I say, "Just go.
Please, Dave, just drive.
Get us as far as far can be.
Get us away from tonight."
And I say, "Oh, Dave, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to yell,
But I'm having quite a bad week
And I miss my mom."
And we drive
Dave steps on the gas
The world that's flying by is slick and smooth
Just big waves of light
The radio is playing Queen
And we're rocking out
We're going now
'Cause, hey, this is it
This is where we are
Out here where silence is
Seventy miles an hour and the windows up tight
And I am home.


Rocks Tonic Juice Magic


Let me take this awkward saw
And run it against your thighs
Cut some flesh away
I'll carry this piece of you with me
Because all I can say tonight
is that I hate you
But it would be all right
If we could see each other sometime
If I could somehow make you mine
And if not I'll take my rusty spoons
And dig out your blue eyes
I'll swallow them down to my colon
They're gonna burn like hell tonight
Because you're beautiful
Just not on the inside
Light comes from within
And your beaming eyes don't seem so bright
My heart is on the floor
Why don't you step on it?
When I think of all the things you've done
Boardwalks and breaking waves
Made our Saturdays
I'd buy you lemonade right now
if you were here
But then I'd throw it in your face
And I'd listen to you cry
And I'd remember how I miss
our nights under ocean skies
You and I are like when fire
and the ocean floor collide.


05. Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots


Somewhere under water maybe you could find my heart
'Cause that's where I threw it after you had torn it out
Three days ago
The doctor told me, "Every skyline and every night spent alone
Are tearing you apart."
Maybe I should get some help
Maybe I should fly out to Montana
I've heard it's quite quiet way out past the electric lines
Out where no one will ever know my name
Oh, I've had it now
I'm walking down to your house
I'm banging on the door
Please, please, please, Mr. Hox
Won't you tell your daughter I'm all alone
And I'm not handling this well
You never know just what you have
Until you get it yanked out of your chest
Well that's it
I'm walking to the water
I'm standing on the bank
I'm staring at my reflection
Oh my god, I look pathetic tonight
Well, guess what
I'm diving in this river
And I'm fishing out my heart
And I'm never gonna let you get your hands on this again.


06. Third Engine


The sky grows bigger every day
And the other week I hopped on a train
Cutting through state lines
To come to you as the crow flies
And out there in there offing everything was melon and orange
Did you know, my sweet
That I once took the liberty of watching you in your sleep?
I rolled over and over
Trying to touch your knees underneath the sheets
I just want you to know
that every pool of water reminds me of you
Is that all right?
I hope you think it's cool
'Cause sometimes a train can't go as fast as I want it to
Everything seemed a little easier
when we weren't one hundred miles apart
The person across from me
sitting in her train seat, reminded me of you
And I looked out past her cheeks
through the glass-light conduit
But the sun had sunk already
Disappeared into New Jersey
Oh, why don't they have phones on these things?


07. My Sweet Fracture 


Could you tell me the next time that you're choking?
'Cause I'll rush right over
to shove some dirt right down your throat
It's nothing I have against you
You're just a creep and
you can't remember the last five years
What's a bond if it dissolves in water?
I took a piss that lasted longer
than you and your manipulations
I called my mom last night
She said, "Sweetie, you don't need someone
who's more fleeting than fall"
'Cause don't you love those leaves?
Don't you wish the orange stayed forever
And Crickets sang in the night all through winter?"
And I thought, slow down, Chris
Think of all the time this jerk
has fucked you up and left you down
And hey, I choose my company
by the beating of their hearts
Not the swelling of their heads
Besides, I'd rather forget the days we spent
Than try to stay afloat in shallow water.


08. The Vast Spoils Of America (From The Badlands Through The Ocean)


There's something sweet about seeing the world
There's something great about Kansas
It's like staring across an ocean
Like seeing the first stars burn white
Through the swamp and trees of Southern night
Oh, I'll always have those mornings in
California where the mountains climb so tall
And waves crash blue around you
When everyone's passed out in the van
And I'm the one driving through the land
Alone in open roading
Ted's out in the seat right next to me
He's drooling on his sleeve
Who ever made up open skies and two of the bluest eyes
Must be some young phenom
Sometimes taking off can open up your eyes
To everything that lies in your heart
'Cause that's when you miss your home
And the trees seem a little deader
I think we're getting back tonight
Would you care if I came over?
I've missed you about three weeks now
I'm dying just to taste your lips
Could we stomp around your back yard
And wreck our clothes in the mud?


09. The Last Lie I Told


I'm in a parking lot by myself
It's quarter to nine and I've been here since 5:45
Oh, there's no one but I can see some flickering lights
I can hear some dogs barking in the back yards
And I smell gasoline
I wish the sky were open 'cause if there weren't those trees
I think I could see for miles
The city is just beyond those clouds
I guess this is what it's like to be really down
And holding out for something
Remembering the warm nights
Remembering the open arms of two years ago
Oh there's nothing like this parking lot
And seeing the stars in morning
'Cause I can see them from where I'm lying
I can feel the cold pavement against my skin 
It's tingling.


10. Do You Know What I Love The Most? 


Do you know what I love the most?
Even suburbs would be o.k.
With you between my sheets
And the breeze in the window
'Cause we will go there and ignore all our neighbors
I think I'll bring you breakfast and play Johnny Cash on the stereo
I'll sit in the lazy chair all day remembering the things you do
So when you come home
I'll jump up to kiss you and it will knock you back
You'll fall over our TV set
I'll pick you up and dust you off
Oh, Baby let's give it a go
I'll kiss your thighs to make you feel all right
And then I'll get closer to taste a little sweat
Oh I think I'm rearing to go
You're gonna get knocked out and tied up in my trunk
In ten years we'll go to Ohio and steal Cadillac's for a living. 


11. Through Being Cool


You know what?
The next time you see Nick
Tell him I'm gonna stick some needles in his face
And watch him on his knees
Watch him when he sees that I'm not fooling
'Cause I'm through being cool
And he keeps telling everyone about me
Like how I'm such a fool and that I'm so deceptive
I think I'll make him eat the ground
I think that I will turn around and notice the wind blowing tops of trees
I'll see the way the world begins to need color everywhere
And I'll realize how small I really am
And then I'll spin right back around
And say, "Nick, why are you such a prick?
Why can't you just marvel in the hopes that make up this reality?
Your world is what you made it
And I don't want a part of it." 


12. Banned From The Back Porch


I stepped out into the night and put my feet down on the wet patio floor
The sky's air had been cooling and steam rose from everywhere
I could feel drops of rain slipping off tree's leaves and splattering to the ground
It's always misty after a summer pour
And I'll remember turning around and looking out
And staring in and focusing on this one beautiful girl
And I said, "Oh who is this?
Where was she all those crazy years?
Where was she when my heart couldn't take its beat?"
I sipped down some warm ginger ale
And drew back a breath
And headed over to see about this girl
I couldn't say a thing and I just stared open and wide
And I connected with her eyes to feel my gut fall through the floor
Oh my god, I think I'm falling.