Cadmium Colors

[Verse 1]
I spend my hours doing alchemy
I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green
Prosaic practice of depravity
Suspending innocents above their disbelief
I wish that I could paint a pretty picture onto everything
And leave a mark upon the world that felt like anything
But maybe that's the essence of an artist and their legacy
Just chasing down a sense of infamy

(じゃ〜！) Put brush to canvas with a pirouette
A simple motion makes the consequence intricate
All the little nothings and my parapet
I hope it's something that you don't forget

[Chorus]
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
I can make autumn from a single leaf
Steal a fine picture like a first class thief
Make the water work like you won't believe
Find a new world that can set you free
How could anybody ever live like me?

[Verse 2]
I spend my hours doing alchemy
I make a life refining zinc inside the smeltery
It's not exactly where I want to be
But wanting doesn't matter when there's mouths to feed
I wish that I could paint a pretty picture of a fantasy
And turn a feeling to a living for my family
Instead I make the metals in the pigments in my reverie
And maybe that can be enough for me

Oh, isn't it funny facing destiny?
Its like a knife inside twisting my arteries
God, I want for nothing but identity
I think that something might be wrong with me

[Chorus]
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
Antegrade fever, 101 degrees
Shatter my body with a gentle breeze
Dammit, I am real and I have my dreams
Watch me burn brighter 'til I fail to breathe
How could anybody ever live like me?

[Bridge]
(Baby, do you know what it's like to die?)
(To see the sparkle fade from inside your eye?)
I can't remember what it's like to feel autonomy
Can't even feel it in the moments that you left to me
(I don't wanna leave with a work undone)
(The paint can barely dry 'fore it fills my lungs)
I kept a bullet in the chamber, mocking me
But I don't wanna feel it coming out of me
I don't want—

[Saxophone Solo: Soneji]

[Verse 3]
I spend my hours doing alchemy
I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green
Chasing impossible philosophy
And hoping that this poison ain't the death of me

[Chorus]
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
I can make autumn from a single leaf
Steal a fine picture like a first class thief
Make the water work like you won't believe
Find a new world that can set you free
How could anybody ever live like—

[Outro]
(Baby, do you know what you wanna hear?)
('Cause you can say the word, make it oh so clear)
We're all just searching for a sense of solidarity
To hold each other close and confiscate our destiny
(No one wants to leave with a work undone)
(We only need a brush we can pass along)
I kept a bullet in the chamber for a rainy day
But what's the point in planning for it anyway?
I've got too many colors for a shade of grey
And I can make it autumn every single day