Yesterday, Tomorrow And In Between

He slipped on his stone face and stepped out the door
Without a sunset or a train track to guide him
He drifted down the road towards Texas I'm told
With that split seam in his coat like Benedict Arnold
The city that he left behind wouldn't change much they said
Just a little more air for those remaining
He was never good at facing up to his enemies
So they always got the best of him even in his victories

The leaves turn from green to brown or else they go from green to gold
From green to gold depending
On the light that marries anyone willing to shackle to the sun
And give a fading thing a little dignity
It was in this season of decay or waiting out the new ice age
That he put his hands in his pockets and just stopped
The cops came out and busted him for standing in the intersection
And took him to the hospital to be forgotten

Like a thief who got caught in the shadows
And chased out into the rain
You check around to see what's missing
Because you know you'll never see him again

Well he threw down for love and he stuck around for change
But then he threw it all away in a flash
It don't matter which is worse be it hunger or thirst
It's a curse to feel more than you can grasp
He was conscious of the shifting ground beneath his feet
So he found somewhere else he could go outside him
His body remained we had given it a name
But nobody knew where he was hiding

It's easy to get confused when the wind changes tunes
And the birds begin to blend with the sky
But it's funny how fast a heart can beat when your face turns white as a sheet
And your brain starts building walls on the inside
But some things you can't let in all if they get inside you're bound to fall
Though it's not the falling so much as not knowing what you're leaving
And I wouldn't know if it weren't for him or for that river others swim
Lost between the end and the beginning

Like a thief who got caught in the shadows
And chased out into the rain
You check around to see what's missing
Because you know you'll never see him again

All the paralyzed poets grieve with all the ink their hearts bleed
Whenever they encounter a tragedy
They rage against the dying of the light pound their livers all night
And all for humanity
While the clowns put on make-up and the priest wears a black robe
To smother our little explosions
They give us illusions made of smoke and mirrors
When we're starving for reasons to keep on burning

Now I've been wandering the plane with the weather in my veins
Keeping one foot north of the wind
To keep it all from freezing I walk the cold streets
With armor stretched over my skin
And I sing my songs for an old friend
For yesterday tomorrow and in between
And I'll forgive him for cutting himself loose
While I hold on to everything

Like a thief who got caught in the shadows
And chased out into the rain
You check around to see what's missing
Because you know you'll never see him again