The National

not in kansas

I am not in Kansas
I can't slow down and I can't stand it
Broadcast News into Hallelujah
Hanne Darboven had a great idea
Make a list, write it down
Shave your head, draw a crown
Move back home with mom and dad
The pool is drained and they are not there
My bedroom is a stranger's gunroom
Ohio's in a downward spiral
Can't go back there anymore
Since alt-right opium went viral

I am not in Kansas
Where I am, I don't know where
Take me for a walk and blame this on the water
dripping off the spear

You even get to wear a dress
And feed his flesh to wayward daughters
Everyone is so impressed
Teachers, neighbours, mothers, fathers
The First Testament was really great
The sequel was incredible
Like the Godfather, the first two Strokes
Every document's indelible
Infidels and Heartbreak Beats
Smidges of bad ecstasy
Must have left it in my pocket
My Christianity in my rocket
I'm binging hard on Annette Bening
I'm listening to R. E. M. again
Begin The Begin, over and over
Begin The Begin, over and over

I am not in Kansas
Where I am, I don't know where
Take me for a walk and blame
this on the water dripping off the spear

If the sadness of life makes you tired
And the failures of man make you sigh
You can look to the time soon arriving
When this noble experiment
Winds down and calls it a day

My shadow's getting shorter
I'm a child at the border
Oh godmother you can't ignore us
There isn't anybody else left to love us
I wanted you when I was a child
I raked the leaves and I started fires
Now I'm reading whatever you give me
It's half your fault so half forgive me
I'm way behind in reflex math
Biphasic sleepless emotional crashes
Two days into one, shove them together
I always wake up way before the weather
My mother needs an army
But I'm leaving home and I'm scared that I won't
Have the balls to punch a Nazi
Father, what is wrong with me?

I am not in Kansas
Where I am, I don't know where
Take me for a walk and blame this on the water
dripping off the spear

Oil droppers, rubber gloves
I raked the leaves, I lit 'em up
I read whatever it is you give me
It's half your thoughts or half forgive me
At the real Neil Armstrong taught me
To play cutthroat at my Aunt Angela's house
While my real dad's skate got caught in the ice
And he drove us home with a spiral fracture
It was then I was enlightened
Roberta Flack the whole way home
I was entirely unfrightened
Dozing off and eternally alone
Flowers cover over anything
They cover over anything
Flowers cover over anything

I am not in Kansas
Where I am, I don't know where
Take me for a walk and blame this on the water
dripping off the spear

Time has come now to stop being human
Time to find a new creature to be
Be a fish or a weed or a sparrow
For the Earth has grown tired and all of your time has expired
Oh the gardens are sprouting with flowers
All the tree-tops are bursting with birds
And the people all know that its over
They lay down their airs
and they hang up their tiresome words