Modern Vampires of the City

Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City Lyrics
1.Obvious Bicycle

Morning's come, you watch the red sun rise,
The LED still flickers in your eyes,
Oh you outta' spare your face the razor,
Because no one's gonna' spare the time for you.

No one's gonna' watch you as you go,
From a house you didn't build and can't control,
Oh, you outta' spare your face the razor,
Because no one's gonna' spare the time for you.
Why don't you spare the world your labour,
It's been twenty years and no one's told the truth.

So listen, Oh,
So listen, Oh,
Don't wait,
Don't wait.

so listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
So listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)

So keep that list of who to thank in mind,
And don't forget the rich ones who were kind,
Oh, and don't you spare your face the razor,
Because no one's gonna' spare the time for you.
Why don't you spare their word's are 'traitor',
Take your witch back and leave before you lose.

So listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
So listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)

So while the sun's coming down,
Cover ground,
Cover ground.

And if you found some love for these clowns,
Turn around,
Turn around.

I'll be asleep on the floor of our high school GYM,
Thinking of you and wondering if anyone else could begin,

To listen,
Listen.

Don't wait,
Don't wait.

So listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
So listen, Oh,
(Listen, ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)
Don't wait
(Don't wait ay hey ay hey ay hey)


2.Unbelievers

Got a little soul
The world is a cold, cold place to be.
Want a little warmth
But who's gonna save a little warmth for me?

We know the fire awaits unbelievers
All of the sinners the same
Girl you and I will die unbelievers
Bound to the tracks of the train

If I'm born again,
I know the world will disagree.
Want a little place
But who's gonna say a little grace for me?

I'm not excited
But should I be
Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?

I know I love you
And you love the sea
But what holy water contains a little drop, little drop for me?

See the sun go down
It's going on down when the night is deep
Want a little light
But who's gonna save a little light for me?

We know the fire awaits unbelievers
All of the sinners the same
Girl you and I will die unbelievers
Bound to the tracks of the train

I'm not excited
But should I be
Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?

I know I love you
And you love the sea
But what holy water contains a little drop, little drop for me?

I'm not excited
But should I be
Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?

I know I love you
And you love the sea
But what holy water contains a little drop, little drop for me?


3.Step

Every time I see you in the world, you always step to my girl

Back back way back I used to front like Angkor Wat
Mechanicsburg Anchorage and Dar es Salaam
While home from New York was champagne and disco tapes from L.A.
slash San Francisco
But actually Oakland and not Alameda
Your girl was in Berkeley with her Communist reader
Mine was entombed within boombox and walkman
I was a hoarder but girl that was back then

The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse, I can't do it alone, I can't do it alone
Every time I see you in the world, you always step to my girl

Ancestors told me that their girl was better
She's richer than Croesus, she's tougher than leather
I just ignored all the details of a past life
Stale conversation deserves but a bread knife
And punks who would laugh when they saw us together
Well, they didn't know how to dress for the weather
I can still see them there huddled on Astor
Snow falling slow to the sound of the master


Wisdom's a gift, but you'd trade it for youth
Age is an honor - it's still not the truth
We saw the stars when they hid from the world
You cursed the sun when it stepped to your girl
Maybe she's gone and I can't resurrect her
The truth is she doesn't need me to protect her
We don't know the true death, the way of all flesh
Everyone's dying, but girl - you're not old yet


4.Diane Young

You torched a Saab like a pile of leaves
I'd gone to find some better wheels
Four, five meters running round the bend
When the government agents surround you again

If Diane Young won't change your mind,
Baby, baby, baby, baby right on time

Out of control but you're playing a role
Do you think you can go til the 18th hole
Or will you flip-flop the day of the championship?
Try to go it alone on your own for a bit

Baby baby baby baby ride on
Baby baby baby baby ride on
Baby baby baby it's a light on
Baby baby baby it's a lifetime
Baby baby baby baby ride on
Time, time, time, time, time
Baby baby baby baby ride on time


Irish and proud, baby, naturally
But you got the luck of a Kennedy
So grab the wheel, keep on holding it tight
'Til I finally go into that goodnight


Nobody knows what the future holds on
Said it's bad enough just getting old
Live my life, they say it's too fast
You know I love the past, 'cause I hate suspense...


5.Don't Lie

Verse 1
One look sent knees to the ground,
Young bloods can't be settling down
Young hearts need the pressure to pound,
So hold me close my baby

Pre-Chorus
Don't lie, I want 'em to know
God's love die young, is he ready to go?
It's the last time running through snow
Where the vaults are full and the fire is bold

Chorus
I want to know, does it bother you?
The low click of a ticking clock
There's a lifetime right in front of you
And everyone I know

Verse 2
Young turks, young Saturday nights
Young hips shouldn't break on the ice
Old flames, they can warm you tonight
So keep it cool, my baby

Pre-Chorus 2
Don't lie, I want 'em to know
God loves three rings and the tournament's gold
It's the last time running through snow
Where the vaults are full and the is bold

Chorus 2
I want to know, does it bother you?
The low click of a ticking clock
There's a headstone right in front of you
And everyone I know

Pre-Chorus 3
Don't lie, I'm want 'em to know
God's love die young, are you ready to go?
It's the last time running through snow
Cause the fire can't last and the winter's cold

Chorus


6.Hannah Hunt

A gardener told me some plants move, but I could not believe it
Til me and Hannah Hunt saw crawling vines and weeping willows
As we made our way from Providence to Phoenix

A man of faith said hidden eyes could see what I was thinking
I just smiled and told him that was only true of Hannah
And we glided on through Waverly/Lincoln

Our days were long, our nights no longer
Count the seconds, watching the hours
Though we live on the US dollar
You and me, we got our own sense of time

In Santa Barbara, Hannah cried amidst those freezing beaches
I walked into town to buy some kindling for the fire
Hannah tore the New York Times up into pieces

If I can't trust you, then dammit, Hannah
There's no future, there's no answer
Though we live on the US dollar
You and me we got our own sense of time


7.Everlasting Arms

I took your counsel and came to ruin
Leave me to myself, leave me to myself
I took your counsel and came to ruin
Leave me to myself, leave me to myself

Oh I was made to live without you
But I'm never gonna understand, never understand
Oh I was born to live without you
But I'm never gonna understand, never understand

Hold me in your everlasting arms
Looked up full of fear, trapped beneath the chandelier
It's going down

I thought it over and drew the curtain
Leave me to myself, leave me to myself
I hummed the Dies Irae and you prayed the Hallelujah
Leave me to myself, don't leave me in my cell

If you've been made to serve the master
You'd be frightened by the open night, frightened by the hand
Could I have been made to serve a master
Well I'm never gonna understand, never understand

Hold me in your everlasting arms
Looked up full of fear, trapped beneath the chandelier
It's going down
Hold me in your everlasting arms
Looked up full of fear, trapped beneath the chandelier
It's going down

Hold me in your everlasting arms


8.Finger Back

Bend the finger back, snap!
Break it in a paper towel
Break it clean in half, set it straight
Hit me with a wood bat,
Hit me with a canister
Just found my soul, drive away

Bend the finger back, snap!
Owwww, owwww, owwww
Hurt for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a Yankee
Like a son of freedom, never had a slave

She said, 'I'll kill you idiots, put Tommy on the line'
She took me to an alley where the sun will never shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
Baby, you're not anybody's fool

Listen with a heart attack
The industry is calling
You can show me where to find a surgeon's knife
Visit every now
How did I do the punishment?
The punishment I needed all my life

Bend the finger back, snap!
Owwww, owwwww, owwww
First draft

Listen to the motor
And listen to the ambulance
It's harder letting me for being wired

She said, 'I'll kill you idiots, put Tommy on the line'
Sympathy that early, the sun will never shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
Baby, you're not anybody's fool

You know that I'm awakened and the road down is wide
A sense of curiosity and yes, they coincide
Everyone was shy, we took 'em for a ride
Baby, you're not anybody's fool

Bend the finger back, snap!
Break your hip, break your toe
Break it til your left hand's straight
Hit me with a wood bat,
Hit me with a canister
Just found my soul, drive away

Bend the finger back, snap!
Owwww, owwww, owwww
Hurt for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a Yankee
Like a son of freedom, never had a slave

She said, 'I'll kill you idiots, put Tommy on the line'
Sympathy that early, the sun will never shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
Baby, you're not anybody's fool

The obstacle is broken and intelligence is fine
The city getting down like a country in decline
Every once and now I look you in the eyes
Baby, you're not anybody's fool

See ya next year in Jerusalem
You know, the one at 103rd and Broadway?
Cause this Orthodox girl fell in love with the guy at the
falafel shop
And why not?
Should she have averted her eyes and just stared at the
laminated poster of the Dome of the Rock?

And then blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood,
bloooood
And then blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood,
bloooood

Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die

Remembrances of generous hearts that couldn't bear to try
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die

Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


9.Worship You

Only in the way you want it
Only on the day you want it
Only with the one stand and every single day you want it
Only in the way you want it
Only on the day you want it
Only with the one stand and every single day you want it
You, you

City with the weight upon it
City in the way you want it
City with the safety of a never-ending place on it
City with the weight upon it
City in the way you want it
City with the safety of a never-ending place on it
You, you

We worshiped you,
Your red right hand
Won't we see once again
In foreign soil, in foreign land,
Who will guide us through the end?

Calling on the treasure wanna call me on the semi
Wanna call in for the wizard who always speak spam
Calling on the treasure wanna call me on the semi
Wanna call in for the wizard who always speak spam
You, you

Any chance of peace you want any kind of place
You want to live a bit of live to get suited finer days
Any chance of peace you want any kind of place
You want to live a bit of live to get suited finer days
You, you

We worshiped you,
Your red right hand
Won't we see once again
In foreign soil, in foreign land,
Who will guide us through the end?


10.Ya Hey

Oh, sweet thing,
Zion doesn't love you,
Babylon don't love you,
But you love everything.
Oh, you saint,
America don't love you,
So I could never love you,
In spite of everything.
In the dark of this place, there's the glow of your face,
There's the dust on the screen, of this broken machine,
And I can't help but feel, that I made some mistake, but I let
it go
Ya hey
Ya hey
Ya hey
Through the fire and through the flames
{*ya hey-ing*}
You won't even say your name
{*ya hey-ing*}
Through the fire and through the flames, you won't even say your
name,
Only I am that I am.
But who could ever live that way?
{*ya hey-ing*}
Oh,
The motherland don't love you,
The fatherland don't love you,
So why love anything?
Oh, good God,
The faithless they don't love you,
The zealous hearts don't love you,
And that's not gonna change.
All the cameras and files, all the paranoid style,
All the tension and fear, of the secret career
And I think in your heart, that you see the mistake, but you let
it go
Outside the tents, on the festival grounds,
As the air began to cool, and the sun went down,
My soul swooned, as I faintly heard the sound,
Of you spinning Israelites, into 19th Nervous Breakdown
Through the fire and through the flames
{*ya hey-ing*}
You won't even say your name
{*ya hey-ing*}
even say your name,
Only I am that I am.
But who could ever live that way?
{*ya hey-ing*}::


11.Hudson

Hudson died in Hudson bay,
The water took his victim's name,
Now rivers rise told riverside,
To change their names again.

(Choral humming)

A stranger walked in through the door,
Said 'All apartments are pre-war',
We laughed and I asked him for his name,
He stayed until the end.

We watched the Germans play the Greeks,
He marked the ninety-nine-year lease,
Our father's which I declined,
To try and comprehend.

(Choral humming)

Over and over again are these never-ending visions,
Over and over again like a prize that's changed in hands,
The time has come,
The clock is such a drag,
All you who change your stripes,
Can wrap me in the flag.

The legendary wooden gate,
First established real-estate,
It's lost a time like other crimes,
The one this pleasant land.

Over and over again are these never-ending visions,
Over and over again like a prize that's changed in hands,
The time has come,
The clock is such a drag,
All you who change your stripes,
Can wrap me in the flag.

(Choral humming)

Hudson died in Hudson bay,
But I was born on sodden place,
The rising tide helped me decide,
To change my name again.

Some men tend to linger on,
And some make haste from Babylon,
Some were on the ruined home,
Rejoicing... To the end.

Over and over again are these never-ending visions,
Over and over again like a prize that's changed in hands,
The time has come,
The clock is such a drag,
All you who change your stripes,
Can wrap me in the flag.

The lines are drawn,
The map is such a drag,
All you who change your stripes,
Can wrap me in the flag.

(Choral humming)


12.Young Lion

You take your time, young lion
You take your time, young lion
You take your time, young lion
You take your time, young lion