When The Subway Comes Above The Ground

I was in T.O. I was laughing

At my friend who sold his soul

I guess it wouldn't have been so funny

I had not just sold mine for less

Staring at the orange smokestacks

and the sunset casting shadows until our faces drowned

I guess it's better to have left and laughed

Than never to have left at all

Found myself on subway coming above the ground

I, I used to tango

But that, that was then

You know, I danced too close to the band

That's how I got this ringing in my ears

And sometimes I just can't sleep from the sound

Oh, I can't hear it during the day, just at night

Or when things get quiet

Like when the subway comes above the ground

In Tennessee

Yes, I was looking for someone to throw me against the wall

I wanted to be inspired until disheartened

Spend all the money that I'd hard-earned

Just to see his name with flashing yellow-lightbulbs all around

But he left us in the Mississippi

He wasn't even thirty-one

If only he'd come up like a subway from the ground

In springtime, I was standing

With a brown dog at my side

I was sweating, staring at Mayan ruins

Then I was next to you on that bus heading straight,

straight out of town

From Memphis and Nashville to New York City

Your jaw was wild and pretty

When you turned to me and you said

Am I in ruins, like the outskirts of the city

Where the subways all come above the ground?

And I said no

In Iceland, it was festival season

And I went knocking on your door

Yes, you opened up, and there you were

With the halo of the porchlight

You were crowned

We stayed up all night

Phrases fading like countryside in the rearview mirror

And I was hoping that one day you'd be next to me

Or at least someplace near

When the subway comes above the ground