The Clock at the Back of the Cage

We used to talk all the time

The blindfolded bodies you stacked in the barn

And they told you not to look behind you

The elephants walk in a line

The ringmaster takes off his hat to the queen

And she opens her mouth as they file inside

You used to tell me the hurt

The way they would strap you

In freezing white basements

And wire your heart til your hopefulness burst

The queen cannot fit through the arch

So she strips off your sisters and tells you to march

And you fall in line with your hands on your throat

The parade of paralysis starts

The ringmaster heads into town for the day

When they were just little he'd staked them in place

They're free now to roam

And they're free to run home

But they've lost the idea of escape

How they crowned you

Weighted and drowned you

How they made you numb

No bandage around you

I've found and unwound you

Now how to make you run

And the queen she is falling apart

She clutches the bannister shaking in shock

At the ugliness of her own heart

The ugliness of her own heart

I had a dream that we talked

We went to the White Cliffs and went for a walk

And I counted the times that our true loves had died

And you took my hand and looked over the side

And we saw your body down there

Getting taken away by the tide

Now they're all gone but you've stayed

The door is unlatched, but you are not afraid

There's a nice patch of straw and a comfortable cage

The door is unlatched, but you're not afraid

There's a nice patch of straw and a comfortable cage

How they crowned you

Weighted and drowned you

How they made you numb

No bandage around you

I've found and unbound you

Now how to make you run, run, run, run, run...