Inmates

When you said you loved me
Did you really love me?
Did the words just spill out
Like drool on my pillow?
Cause I was naked when you said those words
But I felt covered in your whispered worship
And as you pass out fast on my shoulder
I imagine a child
Waiting so sad and still for his mom to arrive

Did she leave you an orphan
In that big brown leather chair
Said "Don't you move a muscle, kid
I'll be back in twenty years"
You were scared, you were lonely
But you must have been aware
Life is a series of callouses
This is just another layer
So build them up, tough it out
Yeah, that's your skin
Don't let anyone under there

When you said you needed me
Did you really need me?
Or was it just someone
Oh, you'd take anything
Am I first on that list of yours?
Or am I second or third?
So who's that ahead of me, some harlot from Pittsburgh?
Or Detroit, Santa Fe, or San Diego?
I know you're so alone
But how much affection does one guy really need?

Did you date a lot in high school
Were you always chasing girls?
Couldn't you find some young valentine
To steal your heart for good?
Were you content or contemptible
Are your memories pleasant?
Or is it a string of endless flings
Of bitter resentment?
Seems that what you want and what you need
Doesn't mean a thing
We're just here for the taking

When you said you'd hurt me
Did you think you'd hurt me?
Are you really that cocky?
Yeah, what a heartbreaker
Well, I've got my armor
Yeah, I've been through some battles before
And I met your old girlfriend
She said "Baby, don't bother"
She told me you told her you'd hurt her
Funny, how familiar
So how much of this relationship was rehearsed?

Did you act out as a child
Were you always crying wolf?
Attention starved, you tried too hard
Just to get someone to look
Now you're the wolf in secondhand clothing
I'm the sheep in a pleated skirt
It's an awkward form of payback
But if it works for you it works
It's that I recognize your off-white lies
Still I lie beside you
And that's what really hurts

When you said you'd leave me
Why haven't you left me?
What are we still doing here
So desperate for company?
There's a Greyhound on Jackson Street
There's an airport in Council Bluffs
Hell, there's a car in the driveway
Fifty ways to get lost
But as I hold you and listen to you sleeping
I'm starting to wonder
If I really believe that you'll ever really leave

Would you leave me an orphan
In your big brown leather chair?
The one you lugged around
From town to town for all these years
It's a trophy of your childhood
Like a shark tooth or gator skin boots
But this one holds you prisoner
It holds me prisoner too
What we need to set us free
Is to let go of each other
Let go of everything

When I said I loved you
It was because I loved you
When I said I needed you
Well, I really need you
Yeah, I guess you hurt me
For once you're a man of your word
Well, guess what, I'm leaving
I can't be your prisoner
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
(I can't do it, I won't do it)
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
(I can't do it, I won't do it)
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
(I can't do it, I won't do it)
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
(I can't do it, I won't do it)
I can't be your prisoner, oh no
I can't be your prisoner