[Verse 1: Söderberg]
Shrill as the choir of children
Urgent like the first day of May
False and inflatable feeling
Tugs at my senses, big as the Macy's Parade

[Verse 2: Oberst & Söderberg]
One brick on top of another
Such is the measure of man
Planets are inset like diamonds
On a gravity halo, eternity's wedding band

[Verse 3: Oberst & Söderberg]
I slept with that dealer all summer
The ecstasy's still in my spine
Coat check I couldn't remember
Walked into the winter, came out on the other side

[Refrain: Oberst & Söderberg]
And in the south the sun is shining
Back in the east the lights went out

[Verse 4: Oberst & Söderberg]
Stuck on a ladder to heaven
On trial way back in the Hague
Lullaby sounds from the engine
In my Styrofoam coffin, asleep on the interstate
[Verse 5: Oberst & Söderberg]
Black globes, old symbols of freedom
A murderer still on the lam
Cities encircled in iron
On a great silver beltway, democracy's shackled hands

[Verse 6: Oberst & Söderberg]
Séance that brought us together
Objects we move with our minds
Coat check and I lost the number
Short sleeves in the winter, fell back through the other side

[Refrain: Oberst & Söderberg]
Out in the west the cars are crashing
Up in the north the ice gave out

[Outro: Söderberg, Oberst]
Gave out, gave out, gave out
Gave out, gave out, gave out
Gave out, gave out, gave out
Gave out, gave out, gave out
Gave out, gave out