Verse 1:

September first and I heard you again

The thundering water still roared in my head

You showed me the knife and you cut me real slow

The receiver fell from my stunned hand to the bed

A death warrant signed by my one and only

Never in my life have I been so lonely

My sobs filled the silence on the other line

The stillness that told me that you would be fine

Chorus:

The world swims out of focus, the dream takes a shape

It's the kind that brings back the perpetual ache

An ethereal promise you patched up with tape

It's the bandaged heart you swore that you'd never break

Verse 2:

The saline meets blood and it mixes with ink

That flows out of my pen with a taste so acidic

It burns holes in my mind, it's my pain on the paper

I can't even breathe 'cause the laughter's so thick

It pours out of my eyes and it just won't congeal

It's ten times as bad 'cause I know that it's real

The poems and songs never heal all the burns

'Cause I know in my heart you'll never return

Chorus:

The world swims out of focus, the dream takes a shape

It's the kind that brings back the perpetual ache

An ethereal promise you patched up with tape

It's the bandaged heart you swore that you'd never break

Verse 3:

The scars on my arms, did they drive you away?

Did she convince you it was no good to stay?

It hurts me to say that I don't really care

Just one more reminder that nothing's left there

In the place where my heart should be, only the agony

You scattered my pieces around

Chorus:

The world swims out of focus, the dream takes a shape

It's the kind that brings back the perpetual ache

An ethereal promise you patched up with tape

It's the bandaged heart you swore that you'd never break...