Cartoon Blues Songtext
von Bright Eyes

I listen to a lecture of nonsense till dawn
By a plagiary poet with dark glasses on
He said, "how did you ever dream up that song?
The one where the baby dies."

I said I′ll tell you the secret
Which one's your good ear?
Yeah people are made up of water and fear
If there weren′t women present
We wouldn't be here
So let's make like we′re friends

Then the pot turned to powder and soured the mood
And the people I come with were gone from the room
So I asked like a child may I be excused?
And disobeyed them all

Into that late night latrine
Rain soaking through my shoes
I tried walking backwards to get less confused
Working off a theory I could never prove
That it was life itself to blame


And time ruined the world
Like a failed revolution
A tumour we could not remove
An old friend, a constant, the blues

Now my days are distractions that ring in my hands
Solitaire crosswords and films on demand
Return from a cartoon back into a man
You start to smell that human smell

And so I sleep with the fan on
To drown out the street
And the noise rising up from the bar underneath
For that inconvenience all my drinks are free
So I guess it′s just as well

Why do I envy the ending right from the start?
Just get it together to take it apart
Watching the horse as it follows the cars
I sweep up my broken spell

And I felt something changing the world
Like a new constitution
A thief I would have to pursue
At all times at all costs
The truth