What Stood Before

Running through the red lights down the road
‘Cause I need to get farther from here, you know
That’s alright, it’s just a beacon in the sky
Just a long white candle in a window
A character in a long-forgotten show
An ocean of separation between the cities
Or the strangely shaped strangers who will miss me
But it’s time for me to go, must get home before the train leaves
Before the milk and sugar contaminate my coffee

Levees break but they sever more
Can we rebuild what stood before?
The trees and leaves sink to the ocean floor
Can we rebuild what stood before?

Water fills my wake and sleep
Books, half-baked, they smell of history
But history and mystery wash down an invisible drain
Because history will only discover the remains
And this morning doesn’t deserve a dawn
And none of us deserve to yawn
Or live, or love, or even die, too
Because I would still give my chances all to you

Levees break but they sever more
Can we rebuild what stood before?
The trees and leaves sink to the ocean floor
Can we rebuild what stood before?

Well I’ll never be able to go back to
The world I knew before I had you
But people change and people leave
People die, and then people grieve
History will only discover the remains
And history will never even know your name

Levees break but they sever more
Can we rebuild what stood before?
The trees and leaves sink to the ocean floor
Can we rebuild what stood before?

After all these years it just goes to show
I’ll never burn out the candle in the window