some kinds of leaves turn red
some they stay ever green
some kinds of days turn gray
some days turn shades of blue
you've never seen
maybe they're the strangest

but whether skies go gray or blue
the kind of love we have for you's
the kind of love that never
kind that never ever
never never ever changes

some kinds of love they fade
some kinds they grow forever
some kinds of moms and dads
find that they're better as friends
than living together
though i can't explain this

but whether in one house or two
the kind of love we have for you's
the kind of love that never
kind that never ever
never never ever changes

so while you find your way
from here to better days
i know you might believe that 
to believe that some love always stays
is just a bit too dangerous

but love, i swear, it's safe, it's true
'cause the kind of love we have for you's
the kind of love that never
kind that never ever
never never ever changes

i'm interested in hearing
all those stories in the dark again
interested in seeing
all those awesome works of art again
shining off of all the sidewalks
and cathedral ceilings, but then
i have no interest now in feeling
all those feelings again

i'm interested in watching her
emerge from all that smoke again
interested in laughing 'cause
she's cracking all those jokes again
tasting all these holy fruits she grew
bowing and kneeling for them
but i've no interest now in feeling
all those feelings again

love carries a lantern
love carries a machete
truth is i am interested
just not sure i'm ready

i’m ready to be running
through these red and yellow fields again
ready to start shedding
all these heavy copper shields again
ready to start finding all that’s bruised
and broken healing again
but am i ready to be feeling
all these feelings again
hope i’m ready to start feeling
all these feelings again

jake and jill
hiked up that hill
where they sat and stared
imperfectly still

they longed to touch
but lacked the skill
with the town below
imperfectly still

watched it all
through my windowsill
sent them all my prayers
imperfectly still

didn't wish them well
didn't wish them ill
no i just wished they'd stay
imperfectly still

try to film or record it
down here you're never
gonna capture
how we're all in orbit

her oxygen's up
his pulse is improving
but i saw their whole movie
very little was moving

jake and jill
unlocked the thrill
as they bared their scars
imperfectly still

you know the deal
you know the drill
the ups and downs
the charms and the chills

shook and shook
my head until
i realized no love's
loved perfectly still

there's time to birth
and time to kill
and this rock we walk
imperfectly still

hold the rails
paint the portrait
the more you cling to everything
the more you're lost in orbit

it's nice here in your hair
hope i'm not intruding
but my life flashed before me
we were fixed, we were moving

jake and jill
soon had their fill
took separate paths
right back down that hill

and the years marched on
yeah, as they will
long may we march along
imperfectly still

honey, of course
i don't blame you
for richer, for poorer
i would've divorced me, too

you flow, and i force
you advance, i review
i would've divorced myself, too

ya picked the wrong horse
well, what can you do
no i'm not sore
i would've divorced me, too

so don’t second-guess yourself
i wouldn't have
amazing that you could
live with me that long
i couldn’t have

did i shrink? not sure
maybe we both grew
but who's keeping score
i would've divorced me, too

once we lost the source
once we lost the juice
'cause love's not a war
nor just a truce

so pull that ripcord
please and thank you
show me the door
i would've divorced me, too

i know it’s a blow
to the whole big band love
but when they’re grown
gotta believe they will understand, love

now how to move forward
don't have a clue
'cept not with our remorse
wish i could divorce me, too

'cause who deserves more
or as much as you do
oh boy, oh lord
i guess divorced me, too

it was almost too easy
a spotlight not to step in
but keeping them in the dark
i swear was never our intention

well either way they missed the sunset
so once that breaking news hit
they must’ve felt like a bunch of idiots

they thought we were still happy
they thought we were fine
their judgment was at worst we were just
goin' through a rough time
their judgment was overruled

yeah we had them all fooled
each one and all fooled

it would’ve been a riot
if it hadn’t been a crisis
for the looks on all their
poor dumbfounded faces
it was priceless

they’d really thought
we'd still got that love, babe
they'd really thought i's lovable
how can anybody be so gullible

they caught us once praying
they thought we’d been blessed
everybody guessed at worst
god just assigned us some test
now everybody's been schooled

we had them all fooled
good guys & dolls fooled

then again, i sense a few of you
who somehow knew you knew
this fairy tale was too good to be true

i think the thoughts had crossed your mind
i feel you felt it in your guts
well it would have been awfully nice
if you'd bothered telling us

when you saw our flags flying
when you heard us ring our bells
for the only people who we fooled
even more than you was ourselves

so although you may still be mad that
we hid the cracks in that old shell
forgive us, fools, 'cause we fools
now need your help

should we feel guilty or should we feel proud
masters of deception or just dumb as all get out
was it clever or cruel

that we had them all fooled
me and you all fooled

outside the sands
and inside the cells
i know ancient cairo
has some stories to tell
with a drum and a trumpet
and two cave figures kissing
still i'm too shy to look at it
and too scared to listen

you might wrap a mummy back up
once that mummy is unmasked
but you can't unask a question
once that question has been asked

oils and clay, pencils and thread
you'll see that this gallery's
full of color and sweat
every name has a number below
some less, some more
if you break it, you buy it
and you'll break it for sure

sure you might glue back a statue
once that statue has been cracked
but you can't unask a question
once that question has been asked

you can try to float it towards the sky
in a hot-air balloon basket
or to bury it beneath some prairie
in a fancy solid cherry casket
digest or divorce it
do your best to ignore it
but i'll never unhear it
and you'll never unask it

hung where we slept
shots made to last
rings we skipped like rocks
before our spirits were glass
now we're searching so hard
for each shard that took flight
seeing glimmers when they
catch the sun just right

piecing together any answers
that were just beyond our grasp
'cause you can't unask a question
once that question has been asked

you can take that pepper spray
with a grain of salt
if it happened yesterday
then it's not my fault

'cause me, i could run with any crowd
though i'd hate to brag
i can leave my house without
a target on my back

so thank you mom & dad
you sure did do me right
i really hit the jackpot
when i came out white

the fact's my past's a proud one
and my future is bright
daddy that was awful savvy
making me white, alright

raised me just like good folks should
gave me all the tools
like that nice safe neighborhood
and those nice clean schools

now i'm paid quite handsomely
though i'd hate to boast
but i'm free from sea to sea
ya see, from coast to coast

so thank you mom & dad
you sure did make me right
i really hit the jackpot
when i came out white

i won't be called a traitor
just for putting up a fight
golly that was so smart mommy
making me white, alright

and while i'm in the mood for gratitude
must say i'm overjoyed
by your decision, your grand vision
to have me be a boy

and as if that wasn't enough lovin' to love
how kind it was back then
to raise me as an
upper-middle-class American

so i look back on my life
clearly as i can
take a deep breath, tell my wife
listen, here's the plan

we're gonna not change anything
not one stripe, one star
pray our kids are born to win
with skin that looks like ours

and they'll say
thank you mom & dad
you sure did make us right
we really hit the big time
when we came out white

it's so damn nice to not get shot
for stepping outside
we really dodged a bullet
when we came out white, alright!

there are many situations
in which i'd be embarrassingly scared
if i faced an alien invasion
or came upon a big grizzly bear

yeah, but you sir, you're impressive
just standing there, shaking in your shoes
scared to send an urgent message
just 'cause of some dumb game
that you're afraid to lose

let's hear it, honey
the topic of the hour is
unnecessary cowardice

like when those men in power
are acting so damn powerless
unnecessary cowardice
unnecessary cowardice

if my wife was choking on some candy
or if my kids were kidnapped from our home
i would probably soil my panties
yeah i'd be quaking in my little chromosomes

but you get the medal, yeah, you're next level
just lying there, terrified and tamed
by some lightweight, duct-taped devil
whose only curse to cast's to call you nasty names

what's the idea
uh, why are we allowing this
unnecessary cowardice

somehow i doubt ya
are really deeply proud of this
unnecessary cowardice
unnecessary cowardice

truth is i was kinda lyin' about me
at times i've also been very
unnecessarily cowardly
with my marriage, and my work, too
but at least i'm full of shame
so here's some shame for you

only fools would ever fear me
only a fly would ever call me brave
i'm no hero, but i hope you'll hear me
while you still have a little soul that's left to save

not tryin' to break ya
just tryin' to shake the clouds of this
unnecessary cowardice

'cause we may not make it out of
another bloody bout of this
unnecessary cowardice
unnecessary cowardice

though we both feel it, we can't speak it
so we just leave it our little secret
once was a whisper in the streets
it runs like a river, our little secret
floats as it flows to the open ocean
words getting stirred up like a witch's potion

watch as we watch history repeated
acting surprised it survives
our little secret

home, 'fraid to write it, 'fraid to read it
don't get excited, our little secret
man, no one checked out, no one cheated
then how's it wrecked now, our little secret
gone, we cry auntie, we we cry uncle
egged on, it echoes, all around the jungle

wet while we wept as the troops retreated
acting distraught that they lost
our little secret

my infidel, why not kiss and tell
if nobody's listenin' to a single thing you say
what's the big deal of the big reveal
if everyone near here's looking away

come, who else lived it, who could leak it
one one-way ticket, our little secret
you're in my heart, kid, you'll never leave it
'course, but fear not, it's our little secret
and if some grandchildren lucky guess it
sir, i'll be first to never confess it

pissed that the past has to go untreated
safe 'til the radio plays
our little secret

anna
wish i could plan
another nervous breakdown

but i checked the dates
i looked, anna
and sadly, i'm pretty booked

i miss
our midlife crisis
be glad to have a new one
but it's late and honestly, anna
i can't find the energy

me on the red carpet, curled up there
you on some bridge downtown
this skin's the only thing i have to wear
it's white as a wedding gown now

you on the red carpet, curled up there
me on some bridge downtown
this skin's the only thing we have to wear
it's white as a cotton shroud now

tried it
keepin' it private
i know you wanna hide it
but this head's no hiding place
too crowded for you just to have some space

anna
anna
anna

why should all the nights we've known
get thrown under the bus
how it ends doesn't change
how it was

to hell with the last image, and curse the coda
F.U. to the finish, 'cause although the
slice of time we spend there's very little
it tends to skew our sense of
every part from the start to the middle

must the waltz before the wreck
get swept under the rug
how it ends doesn't change
how it was

it's true that when a great ship hits a glacier
it's just high school physics, human nature
they'll say it sank quickly, duly noted
but what about those million other moments
when it floated

if it sailed on just like it had
for sure that'd be a plus
but how it ends doesn't change
how it was

and it was very good
up the coasts, down the aisle
not into the sunset
but for many miles

the same for every flame that's built to burn out
every midnight train that's overturned now
twisted path that comes full circle
and let's see, oh, for every single life
that’s not eternal

those soft lips, those sweethearts
they were ours, that was us
how it ends doesn't change 
how it was