The Old Guard Lyrics

I still don't know why, I think I forgot who told me

You and I separated by a hair's breadth

And I keep cutting in and out of an infinite spiritual regression

What is it they say? Quiet the mind, keep returning to the center

I still don't know why, I think I forgot who told me

Three states and six hours of nowhere to go

Who paid for this war?

You paid for this war

I paid for this war

We paid for this war

Who paid for this war?

You paid for this war

I paid for this war

We paid for this war

Who paid for these bombs?

I paid for these bombs

You paid for these bombs

We paid for these bombs

Who paid for these bombs?

I paid for these bombs

You and me

We are complicit

You and me

We are complicit

You and me

We killed those children

You and me

We are complicit

Have we forgotten our role in the game?

It seems

I am helplessly addicted to self-uprooting

Planting a seed and ripping it out of the

Earth a day or two later

Like a little kid's science experiment

Teacher says give it time

And little kid pouts but listens

I pout but drop out of college

And tell everyone in town that I've found

A magic bean stalk which will carry us all

Up to heaven

Occasionally, I say this with conviction

And by the way

You can tell I am lying by the smoke that

Escapes a clenched grin

And in my nihilist fingers

The loose swagger of self-deprecation

And finally

Stubbing it out in disgust

It seems I am helplessly addicted to self-uprooting

That's why I make my bed in the morning

And change into warm clothes at night

And pray I wake up somehow different

That's why, when I gaze up at the priest

From underneath the floorboards I forget

Which one of us is on acid. Because

Self-uprooting is a double-blind study between

Myself now and myself three seconds ago

And I know a journalist in Boston who says the commitment will pay for our indulgences

Down the line

So now I stare into a watchful sky

Before ducking into another self-incision

I still don't know why, I think I forgot who told me

You and I separated by a glistening white halo

I keep cutting in and out of an infinite spiritual regression

What is it they say? Quiet the mind, keep opening the heart

I don't know why, I think I forgot who told me

Three states and six hours of nowhere to go

Who paid for this war?

You paid for this war

I paid for this war

We paid for this war

Who paid for this war?

You paid for this war

I paid for this war

We paid for this war

Who paid for these bombs?

I paid for these bombs

You paid for these bombs

We paid for these bombs

Who paid for these bombs?

I paid for these bombs

You and me

We are complicit

You and me

We killed those children

You and me

We are complicit

You and me

No separation

You and me

We are complicit

Now, I don't really mean anything by this

But I still remember being high and eating a grape and a cracker for at least 30 minutes

I remember rushing away from an otherwise unoccupied task to write down a thought

Then running back to the moment feeling like I had aged 20 years

And my creaky bones cried wolf to any sense of accomplishment

Look deeply into a flower, does it have any chance at all?

I remember tearing up white robes and pointing a finger at the moon

Ripping off my halo and tossing it into the ocean on a string

And reining in a little fish makes me think that everything is beautiful again

So if you would please excuse me for vulgarity

Living in the world is living uncontrollably

There's a golden egg in funhouse mirror

And every reach is another encroachment of my own misplaced efforts

I still don't know why, I think I forgot who told me

You and I separated by a hair's breadth

Ugh