On The Impossible Past

The Menzingers On The Impossible Past Lyrics
1.Good Things

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

I've having a horrible time
Pulling myself together
I've been closing my eyes to find
The old, familiar failures
I've been having a horrible time
Pulling myself together
I've been closing my eyes to find
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart

I've been having a horrible time
Pulling myself together
I've been closing my eyes to find
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart
Why all good things should fall apart

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Like when we would take rides
In your American muscle car
I felt American for once in my life
I never felt it again
So all good things should fall apart
So all good things should fall apart
So all good things should fall apart
So all good things should fall apart


2.Burn After Writing

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

Here's to you, the same chords that I stole
From a song that I once heard
The Same melody I borrowed from the void
I'd rather observe than structure a narrative
The characters are thin; the plot does not develop
It ends where it begins
It's on the screen, in paperbacks
In section 8 and cul-de-sacs
Electro haikus and drunk sonnets
Are moving me along

You cut my hair
You left red ink everywhere
Do my hands tell a story?
Is it boring?

What I'd give to force your sigh
What I'd give to see you cry
What I'd give for your caress
To see your blue cotton dress
Balled up on the floor
Certain memories are the problem
Certain drunken lines are the shame
Seven hundred miles and four years
I can't fight the flame; it burns

You cut my hair
You left red ink everywhere
Do my hands tell a story?
Is it boring?

Was I wishing on satellites?
Tell me how you've been doing that trick
I'm just wishing the flame away
Now I'm wishing the flame away


3.The Obituaries

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

We stumble and stare at the carnival lights that lit up New York
City,
From the rooftop in Brooklyn that was covered in bad graffiti.
And then I let a thousand splinters pierce right through my
spoiled liver,
Whatever that was left of it.

'Cuz I cursed my lonely memory with picture-perfect imagery.
Maybe I'm not dying I'm just living in decaying cities,
But I'm still healthy, I'm still fine,
I'll be spending all my time readin' the obituaries.

But I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.

Cause I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
I felt the false azure from windowpanes
I am just freaking out, yeah I'll be fine.

But I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.


4.Gates

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

I am the pain that bleeds through your temples
Every morning when you wake up
I am the boy with alcohol poisoning
From all the parties Chris would throw
That summer that they took us in
Like every other American
For getting drunk in back of the Lion's Club
Waiting for the shitty bands to finish up
Then some kids played hacky sack
while the others just got high

It's not hard to fall for a waitress
When you both smoke
Smoke the same cigarettes
You'll get seated as diners lovers
You'll get the check as friends for the better
You'll carve your names into the Paupack Cliffs
Just read them when you get old enough to know
that happiness is just a moment

So I'm marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
'Cause I don't need it
You can take it back

And they will make examples out of us
Like when they caught you in the CVS parking lot
But I fed the liars
Everything I got in my cabinet brain
of canned thoughts
Everything I've got
It was everything I've got
In my cabinet brain

So I'm marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
'Cause I don't need it
You can take it back

Yeah I don't need it
You can take it back


5.Ava House

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

Ava are you trying to get high?
I hope the floor holds this time
We'll dance in subtle romance together
While we're making our time
While we're making our time
While we make our time

I saw the knife, now I'm leaning forwards
Straight city light cut me down to size
The bums are scheming on their Tall Boys
I can hardly open my eye

Ava are you trying to get high?
I hope the floor holds this time
We'll dance in subtle romance together
While we're making our time
While we're making our time
While we make our time

I saw the knife, now I'm leaning forwards
I'm two wheels barreling down your way
You can't touch us we're untouchable
Lament the beginnings that we celebrate
Never afraid, we're fearless together
The rest, they're waiting their lives away
Gold has us slurring and pissing out windows
Enemies are so far away

We're Alive
Celebrate

Ava are you trying to get high?
I hope the floor holds this time
We'll dance in subtle romance together
While we're making our time
While we're making our time
While we make our time


6.Sun Hotel

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

I remember you well at the Sun Hotel
Where we were waiting impatiently
For a decent night's sleep

It's like I've landed in the rubble of my past life
And I never seem to board a return flight
From the shame, the fear, the guilt that's tough to mention
The kind that always pry your eyelids open

And I'm pretty sure this corner of the world
Is the loneliest corner in the whole world
Maybe it's me or the bartender
There's Budweiser, the other customers
When all eyes are glued on the six o'clock news
For another fire, another impending news
Decide that I'll leave you alone
I will leave you alone and you will leave me alone

I remember you well at the Sun Hotel
Where we were waiting impatiently
For a decent night's sleep
I remember you well at the Sun Hotel
Where we were running out of money
Where we were grinding down our teeth


7.Sculptors And Vandals

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

I remember when you came around
I was younger
Burning statues to the ground
Now I'm older and tired
I no longer see the differences
I remember the taste of the fruit
Just remember all we knew
Said we wanted to be interesting
Then we fell asleep
These days you'll find me where the nectar's plenty
Looks are cheap and the talk is heavy
Liars lie to themselves
Liars lie to themselves
I remember

You said, 'Sometimes I need you around'
And he said, 'If my convenience is just so convenient'
You said you wanted to be interesting
Then you fell asleep
These days you'll find me where the nectar's plenty
Looks are cheap and the talk is heavy
Liars lie to themselves
Liars lie to themselves

Walk home single, seeing double
Walk home single, seeing double
Walk home single, seeing double
Walk home single, seeing double


8.Mexican Guitars

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

You were an old friend
The kind I could confide in
And drink with on random neighbors' porch steps
Our glossy eyes painted portraits of the streets
You were an old friend
That covered up your innocence
With five tattoos of all the bands you loved in high school
The ones you said that I had to listen to all the time

I did what I did to get away from this
Cause everything that's happened has left me a total wreck
And everything that I do now is meaningless
So I'm off to wander around the world for a little bit
Without one hundred channels with nothing on the TV
And the great pessimistic unknown

So does anyone know the best way to go?
Which road that I could take to get to Mexico?
Cause I'm so sick of living in this ditch
With only the memory in the back of my head
I'm on cruise control and the radio was on
Yeah, they were playing that song
That we both learned on our Mexican guitars
I'm on cruise control and the radio was on
They were playing that song
That we both learned on our Mexican guitars
You were my old friend


9.On The Impossible Past

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

We took rides in your American muscle car
I felt American
We shared our smokes
I held the wheel while you drank and drove
Our plans were miserable
And then we crashed your car
Your American muscle car
Into a ditch on Sawmill Road
There was ice on all the roads
We always dreamt of having nice things
Having nice things


10.Nice Things

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

Western wall's a jumbo screen
At the gate, there's an automated teller machine
Sir, empty your pockets, please
Before you file through
The king and queen foreclosed on their crowns
The joker laughed and made his rounds
He was drunk, carrying on, self-satisfied

Western walls are closing in
'Are you happy?' he said
'Are you rich or are you dead?'
Dreaming the dream
Singing songs of another time
Is your gold so strangely acquired?
Has your name become known and desired?
Have you degenerated?
Are you running out of time?

Do you want nice things?
Sure, you do
Do you call your nice things your own?
Do you want nice things?
Sure, you do
Do you call your nice things your own?

Do you want to feel safe?
Climb the wall before the fall
No one is waiting for you


11.Casey

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

Well I sat and thought about you
On the long ride back to Philly
From the way that you'd wear your hair
To the way that you'd laugh when you drank too much
Before the plug was pulled, the fires burned out
And all the parties grew bored
You waited tables
I waited for your shift breaks

And gin and Casey
You'll still dance inside of me
And I bet I sound like a broken record
Every time I open my mouth
I want to wander around the city with you again
Like when you waited tables
And I waited for your shift breaks

Me and Casey
We used to get drunk before we did the dishes
Every evening
Me and Casey used to get high and listen to our boredom
Cause it was so much easier
Cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything

So Casey, Casey, Casey
Just tell me when you're ready
I'm all packed to go
On a search for that old place we found forever ago
When we could take my car
Yes, she's still got the spirit
We could live,
We could live,
We could live,
and no longer just have to hear it

Me and Casey
We used to get drunk before we did the dishes
Every evening
Me and Casey used to get high and listen to our boredom
Cause it was so much easier
Cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything
Cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything
Cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything


12.I Can't Seem To Tell

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

One, two, three, four

Well the silence hasn't been broken
As we reach the point of utter disgust
As the weeks drag on, the lies unfold
The alcohol loses its touch
And I once held your words close to my heart
With a knife protecting all of them
But now we've made our beds in a deep, dense forest
We're sound
We'll never take the blame

As I dig my hands in the cold, dark dirt
In a search for roots now lost forever
With one last great hope of a messiah
I check the time and admit to the surrender terms
Remember the days when I had a conscience?
Yeah, me neither
And I'm warning you
And I'm warning you

That I can't seem to tell
If it's my head or the earth that's spinning around
I can't seem to tell anymore

I can't seem to tell
If it's my head or the earth that's spinning around
I can't seem to tell
I can't seem to tell
If it's my head or the earth that's spinning around


13.Freedom Bridge

Writer(s):Eric KeenGreg BarnettJoe GodinoTom May

Amy was a waitress at The Fire Street Grill
Up route 611 she was slaving for the pill
Oxy's got her pupils pinned up
A junkie centerfold
With grey hairs and a death wish
She was 22 years old

Had it all
Took the fall
Had it all
Took the fall

Specialist Jeg, a much more honest man than you
Came back from the desert where he never found the truth
Now he screeches tires, fills his head with alcohol
While the morbid brown faces hang like portraits on the wall

Had it all
He took the fall
Had it all
They took it all

Something happened on the way to hell,
The new guard they took my sister
Something happened on the way to hell,
The old guard they took my brother away
Something happened on the way to hell,
The same greed it took our parents
Something happened on the way to hell,
The west wall it took us with it

McTiernan was a good ol' boy, he cheated and he skimmed
'A favor for a favor, it can't be called a sin'
Some may see it different, and some don't see at all
When the papers started calling he closed his eyes and took the
fall

Had it all
Took the fall
Had it all
Took the fall

Now we're standing on the ledge
And we're looking at the ground
I feel my body breaking on the asphalt, hear the sound
Red and blue lights screaming saying,
'Step up off that ledge'
So we wrap our hearts up in our heads
And take the fall instead

Had it all
Took the fall
Had it all
Took the fall

Something happened on the way to hell,
The new guard they took my sister
Something happened on the way to hell,
The old guard they took my brother away
Something happened on the way to hell,
The same greed it took our parents
Something happened on the way to hell,
The west wall it took us with it

Something happened on the way to hell,
The west wall it took us with it