Lyrics A Song to Pass the Time - Bright Eyes

A Song to Pass the Time

There’s a middle-aged woman, she is dragging her feet
She carries baskets of clothes to a laundromat
While the Mexican children kick rocks into the street
And they laugh in a language I don’t understand
But I love them
Why do I love them?
So the neighborhood’s dimming, I smoke on the porch
Watch the people as they pass enclosed inside their cars
On their face it’s just anger or disappointment
I start wishing there was something I could offer them
A consolation
What could I offer them?
And they are sad in their suburbs, robots water the lawn
And everything they touch gets dusted spotless
So they started to believe they’ve not touched anything at all
And the cars in the driveway only multiply
Well they are lost in their houses
I’ve heard them sing in the shower
Making speeches to their sister on the telephone
Saying, «You come home, woman, you come here
Don’t stay so far away from me»
This weather has me wanting love more tangible
Something I can hold, cause it’s getting cold
Well I say hold up a fist to the flame in the sky
To block out the light that’s reaching for our eyes
Cause it would blind us
Yeah, it will blind us
Well I’ve locked my actions in the grooves of routine
So I may never be free of this apathy
But I wait for a letter that’s coming to me
She sends me pictures of the ocean in an envelope
So there still is hope
Yes, I can be healed
There’s someone looking for what I’ve concealed
In my secret drawer, in my pockets deep
You will find the reasons that I can’t sleep
And you’ll still want me
Will you still want me?
Will you still want me?
Well I said come for the week, you can sleep in my bed
And pass through my life like a dream through my head
It will, it will be easy
I’ll make it easy
All I have for the moment is a song to pass the time
And a melody to keep me from worrying
It’s some simple progression to keep my fingers busy
And words that are sure to come back to me
And they’ll be laughing
Yeah, they’ll be laughing
(Ha, ha, ha, ha)
My mediocrity
My mediocrity
(They'll be laughing)