Give Up
Album - 18 febbraio 2003 - Debaser id 51724

Smeared black ink
Your palms are sweaty
And I'm barely listening
To last demands
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering
What's buried underneath

Where I am

I'll wear my badge
A vinyl sticker with big block letters
Adherent to my chest
That tells your new friends:
I am a visitor here; I am not permanent
And the only thing
Keeping me dry is

(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
In this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key
Explaining that I'm just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving

D.C. sleeps alone tonight

(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
In this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key
Explaining that I'm just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving

(Where I am)
The district sleeps alone tonight
After the bars turn out their lights
And send the autos swerving
Into the loneliest evening
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving (x4)

I am thinking it's a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images
And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned.

And I have to speculate
That God Himself did make
Us into corresponding shapes
Like puzzle pieces from the clay.

And true it may seem like a stretch
But it's thoughts like this that catch
My troubled head when you're away
And when I am missing you to death.

And when you are out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home.

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay

I tried my best to leave
This all on your machine
But the persistent beat
It sounded thin upon the sending.

And that frankly will not fly
You'll hear the shrillest highs
And lowest lows with the windows down
And this is guiding you home.

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay

They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay

(Ben Gibbard)
Would someone please call a surgeon
Who can crack my ribs and repair this broken heart
That you're deserting for better company

I can't accept that it's over
And I will block the door
Like a goalie tending the net
In the third quarter
Of a tied game rivalry

So just say how to make it right
And I swear I'll do my best to comply

Tell me am I right to think that there could be nothing better
Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together

(Jen Wood)
I feel I must interject here
You're getting carried away
Feeling sorry for yourself
With these revisions and gaps in history

So let me help you remember
I've made charts and graphs
That should finally make it clear
I've prepared a lecture
On why I have to leave

So please back away and let me go

(Ben Gibbard)
I can't my darling; I love you so
(Both)
Oh oh
(Ben Gibbard)
Tell me am I right to think that there could be nothing better
Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together
(Jen Wood)
Don't you feed me lies about some idealistic future
Your heart won't heal right if you keep tearing out the sutures
(Ben Gibbard)
I know that I have made mistakes
And I swear I'll never wrong you again
(Jen Wood)
You've got allure I can't deny
But you've had your chance
So say goodbye

Say goodbye

I was waiting for a cross-town train in the London Underground
When it struck me
That I'd been waiting since birth to find a love that would look and sound
Like a movie
So I changed my plans, I rented a camera and a van
And then I called you
I need you to pretend that we are in love again
And you agreed to

I want so badly to believe that there is truth
And love is real
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd

I grease the lens and frame the shot
Using a friend as my stand-in
The script had called for rain, but it was clear that day
So we faked it
The marker snapped and I yelled, "Quiet on the set!"
And then called, "Action!"
I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired
I thought it classic

I want so badly to believe that there is truth
That love is real
And I want life in every word to the extent
That it's absurd
I know you're wise beyond your years
But do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie
You tell yourself to help you get by

That you tell yourself to help you get by
That you tell yourself to help you get by

I've got a cupboard with cans of food
Filtered water, and pictures of you
And I'm not coming out until this is all over
And I'm looking through the glass
Where the light bends at the cracks
And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs
Pretending the echoes belong to someone
Someone I used to know

And we become silhouettes when our bodies finally go

I wanted to walk through the empty streets
And feel something constant under my feet
But all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors
Because the air outside will make
Our cells divide at an alarming rate
Until our shells simply cannot hold
All our insides in
And that's when we'll explode
(And it won't be a pretty sight)

And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go

This place is a prison
and these people aren't your friends
Inhaling thrills through twenty dollar bills
and the tumblers are drained and then flooded
again and again.

There's guards at the onramps
Armed to the teeth
And you may case the grounds
from the cascades to Puget Sound
but you are not permitted to leave.

I know there's a big world out there
like the one that I saw on the screen
in my living room late last night
it was almost too bright to see.

and I know that it's not a party
if it happens every night
pretending there's glamor and candelabra
when you're drinking by candlelight.

And what does it take
to get a drink in this place?
what does it take?
how long must I wait?
(repeat)

how long must I wait?

I'll be the grapes fermented, bottled and
served with the table set in my finest suit
like a perfect gentleman.
I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the
ancient brick where you will sit and
contemplate your day.

I'll be the waterwings that save you if you
start drowning in an open tab when your
judgment's on the brink.
I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
albums back as you're lying there drifting off
to sleep.
I'll be the platform shoes and undo what
heredity's done to you: you won't have to
strain to look into my eyes.
I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped
straight to the throat with the collar up so
you won't catch cold.

I want to take you far away from the cynics in this
town and kiss you on the mouth.
we'll cut our bodies free from the tethers of
this scene, start a brand new colony
where everything will change, we'll give
ourselves new names, identities erased.
the sun will heat the grounds under our bare
feet in this brand new colony.

everything will change...

I'll write you a song
and it won't be hard to sing
it will be a natural anthem
familiar it will seem

it will rally all the workers
on strike for better pay
and its chorus will resound
and boost morale throughout the day

I'll write you a song
and I hope that you won't mind
because all the names and places
I have taken from your life

so please don't be upset
at this portrait that I paint
it will be a little biased
but at least I spelt your name right.

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love

Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love

Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end

Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love