i only wanted such a little thing

only simplicity

and now that i am who i was taught to be

you have abandoned me

i held so tightly to every word you said

that's the price of the respect you've always demanded

and all those things i've gathered through the years

have no value here (chorus)

i need to find a place where i can breathe

somewhere high above this empty landscape

where the air is clear

and i need to find it while i still can in a world like this

how can you wonder at my sadness?

now i hope for something beautiful

but i feel trapped under your waves of wreckage

and if i cannot claw my own way through

i fear one day i will be just like you in this land of vacant stars

in the backseats of desperate cars

in single-mother topless bars

we ache for something more

your sons and your daughters

are unwilling martyrs

to the devils, priests, and other thieves

and their wars and rumors of war

i need a handgun and a hand grenade

to protect me from those who keep me safe

still i remember you straight face:

"Some day this will all be yours."