lifeblood: songs: lyrics: when we were writers

look a gift horse in the mouth
go get a job
the last best deal i ever got
was a quarter for a beer on the quad

nevilles singing on a makeshift stage
you sitting on a towel in the shade
came from a foreign town
and you smoked a joint with jackson browne

what if my pain won't deliver me
(what if my stasis)
what if my stasis
(crushes me)
crushes me with boredom
if i read into everything you say to me
i will never get the meaning of your words
like when you wrote them

when we were writers
(when we were writers)
when we were fighters
(we were fighters)
before we found purpose and made deals with god
let's pull an all nighter
push wood in the fire
it might just look like smoke in my eyes
but i'm still burning inside

some sailed the calmer seas
serial monogamy
best trip i ever took
was on a ship that i wrecked and how i got set free
strange boy in the vegas summer
dancing by the pool to a different drummer
maybe a heat mirage
or a message in camouflage

what if i thought that the best of me
(was spending my days)
spending my days
(doing just fine)
doing just fine
to short change my true full capacity
and recognize it just when i was running out of time

when we were writers
(when we were writers)
we were igniters
(we were igniters)
blisters to callus
to scars from the war
the sentence gets tighter
the impact grows wider
when nothing is wasted
nor chances denied
i've had my day in the sun
that's no lie
but i'm still burning inside

the slings and arrows
the passage narrows
the story harrowing
the word becomes flesh
wrestle the beast
that leaves you diminished
it's alright
you will never be finished

(when you're a writer)
when you're a writer
(when you're a fighter)
when you're a fighter
easy to be cruel
better to be kind
plow through the stocks
of your heart's tinder box
flint to the rock
and you'll find
you're still burning inside
(when we were writers)
well i'm still burning inside
(when we were writers)

words and music by emily saliers