Split wide open across the plains
Broken skull spilled teeth and brains
Blood quenched thirst of grasses grow
It’s just another tired journey home
But I don’t think about it

I don’t drink no more
I haven’t had the taste
I don’t mistreat animals
Now that I’ve changed my ways
I don’t steal no more
I haven’t had the idle hands
I don’t kill folk no more
That’s not who I am

Word has traveled far and wide
Of a man tough as bison hide
Some of them, they claim to be
Other people claim he’s me
But I don’t think about it

Blue, blue velvet
Drapes a distant globe
Through my window
Blue, blue velvet
Shapes and colors your eyes
Makes me realize, I’m just a satellite

Blue, blue velvet, white pickets
Such a lovely garden of grass
Such a wonderful life you lead
But there’s bugs underneath the leaves

Blue, blue velvet, white pickets
Such a wonderful house you have
Such a loving family you have
But you’re just another blade of grass

Houston can you bring me down?
I was better off left on the ground

Woke up in a cold car
Blinded by the headlights
Alone at a rest stop
Strangers looked in at me
Met a man in the bathroom
He asked me for my car keys
As I motioned for the doorway
Everything went sideways

I don’t wanna go home
I don’t wanna go
Not yet

Bullet holes in the bathroom stall
Everything is all my fault
I’ll take the blame and
Learn from shame

Driving on that highway
Looking at the sky
I didn’t really notice
And I never questioned why
The lights that were flashing
Strobing and then dancing
Never seemed to leave me
Then I realized

I don’t wanna go home
I don’t wanna go
Not yet

Bullet holes in the bathroom stall
Everything is all my fault
I’ll take the blame and
Learn from shame
This time it will
Be different

Bullet hole in the back of my skull
Everything is always my fault
I’ll take the blame and
Learn from shame
This time things will
Be different

I heard a bird chirping today
He sang an unfamiliar phrase
It sounded like a car alarm chime
Close enough that it caught my surprise

Lost my head in the carpet
Dreaming about what could have been
Lost my mind in the skyline
Wishing for something different

Driving home, late last night
I came up to a red stoplight
I waited forever but no one drove by
I wondered why I always abide

Lost my head in the carpet
Dreaming about what could have been
Lost my mind in the skyline
Wishing for something different

I’ve got ideas in my head
I’ve got ideas in mind

Where can we go when it’s cold?
I’m tired of being inside
I know a place we can hide ourselves away
It’s called

Ernie November!
I know, that we can go

Another snow day inside
I think that I might just lose my mind
It always seems we’re getting older
But I know a place we can stay young
Forever, together at

Ernie November!

Sitting in the back of Athena’s car she’s smoking on a cigarette
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car she’s talking to her boyfriend
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car still smoking on a cigarette
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car
Gonna listen to Portishead

Sitting on the couch at the Maple house
I’m playing with the kitty cats
Jacob is in the kitchen; the neighbor is mowing the grass

Sitting on the floor up in Hannah’s dorm
I’m hanging with my two friends
I think I’m gonna draw em a picture
Something to make them laugh
Something that’s real crass

Sitting in the back of Athena’s car she’s smoking on a cigarette
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car she’s talking to her boyfriend
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car still smoking on a cigarette
Sitting in the back of Athena’s car
And I never want this to end

Dark was the night and cold was the ground
You didn’t make not a single sound
I once held you tight up against my chest
Now all I feel is an emptiness

Sleeping in the badlands with you
Let me fix what I brought onto you
Sleeping in the badlands with you
Swear I can change if I wanted to

So speak softly and carry a big stick
It’s all you can do when you’re forced under whip
I couldn’t help carry the cross on your back
Now my heart has turned to black
I spent too long on a bended knee
Now I’ll be your Simon of Cyrene

Sleeping in the badlands with you
Let me fix what I brought onto you
Sleeping in the badlands with you
Swear I can change if I wanted to

I am your huckleberry
I can be your Simon of Cyrene

Never gonna cross that river
Never see your face again
Never in a million years, will I walk the plains again
Never gonna leave this place, never gonna see your face
Cuz I’m
Never gonna cross that river, never walk the plains again

Never gonna walk the plains
Never gonna see your face again
I’ll be stuck in this place forever
Cuz I’m never gonna cross that river
Again

Alone in an empty booth
Where I sat across from you
Where two people used to be
Is now a faded memory
But I’m never gonna cross that river
Never see your face again

I’ll wait for you in an empty booth
Cuz I’ve got nothing left to lose
Leaving town on a southern train
Cuz I’m never gonna walk the plains
Again

She put rocks in her pockets
As she skipped river stones
Sitting down by the water
Crying all alone

So why did you always typecast me?
I’m tired of playing this stupid impression of me
So please let go, and find another soul to break

Walked alone in the forest
As I flipped over logs
Looking for salamanders
But all I found were frogs

So why do you always typecast me?
I’m tired of playing this stupid impression of me
Please let go and find another soul to break
Cuz I won’t be your typecast actor today

Allison, Allison don’t you know?
That I don’t live out that way no more
Allison, Allison don’t go
Just open your arms and please let me come home

I like crushing butterflies
I sit around and watch them die
The twitch and squirm don’t bother me
The sun don’t often shine on me
And I don’t want it to

I like crushing butterflies
I sit around and watch them die
I ain’t the man I used to be
Something died inside of me

I can’t look you in the eyes
As you try looking into mine
You whisper sweet nothings in my ear
You told me what I wanted to hear
And I love it when you do

I like crushing butterflies
I sit around and watch them die
You are the bullet stuck in my wound
That I can’t seem to dig out
And I don’t want to

I like crushing butterflies

Sinking back into the plains
Was a place that held no pain
I once was lost, but then I was found
While wearing Levi’s colored brown

I unbuttoned my 501’s and threw them to the ground
I unbuttoned my 501’s
Then I headed out of town

I traded mountains for skyscrapers
As I headed back East
I have a friend who takes care of me
She lives up in the city

She unbuttoned my 501’s and threw them to the floor
She unbuttoned my 501’s
Then she showed me the door

I unbuttoned my 501’s as I walked in the door
She unbuttoned my 501’s
As I got fucked once more

I’m leaving South Dakota in tears
I’m leaving South Dakota