Bright Eyes — Cleanse Song

Hear the chimes, did you know That the wind when it blows It is older than Rome And all of this sorrow? See the new pyramids Down in old Manhattan From the roof of a friend's I watched an empire ending Heard it loud and long The river's ohm Time marching on To a mad man's drum Don't forget what you've learned All you give is returned And if life seems absurd What you need is some laughter And a season to sleep And a place to get clean Maybe Los Angeles Somewhere no one's expecting On a detox walk Through a Glendale park Over sidewalk chalk Some wrote in red, "start over" So I muffle my scream On an Oxnard beach Full of fevered dreams that scare you sober Into saltless dinners Take the fruit from the tree Break the skin with your teeth Is it bitter or sweet? All depends on your timing Like a meeting of chance With a train station glance Many lifetimes have passed In a instant reminded Of a millstone house in a seaside town When your heart gave out in a mission bed So your wife gave birth to a funeral dirge As you woke up purged as a wailing infant In Krung Thep, Thailand Hear the chimes, did you know That the wind when it blows It is older than Rome And our joy and our sorrow?