The Gaslight Anthem Album

Look what you started
I seem to be coming out of my skin
And look what you've forgotten here
The bandages just don't keep me in

And when it was over, I woke up alone
And when it was over, I woke up alone

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
I got your name tattooed inside of my arm
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
And I called for my father, but my father had died
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
While you told me fortunes in American slang

And look at the damage
The fortunes came for the richer men
While we're left with gallows
Just waiting for us liars to come down and hang

And when it was over, I woke up alone
And when it was over, I woke up alone

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
I got your name tattooed inside of my arm
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
And I called for my father, but my father had died
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
While you told me fortunes in American slang

And here's where we died that time last year
And where the angels and devils meet
And you can dance with the queen if you need
And she will always keep your cards close to her heart

So close to her heart
Before they tear you apart

Well they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive
I got your name tattooed inside of my arm
And I called for my father, but my father had died
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
And we called for our mothers, but our mothers have died
(In a dream I had, oh in dream I had)
And you told us fortunes in American slang

Oh, you told me fortunes in American slang

It took so long to get me back on my feet
It takes so long to find the words and the beat
And Charlie's waiting on the end of the phone
To hear you call on him to try to recapture

But them old records won't be saving your soul
And them feelings got the reasons, you know
That you've forgotten somewhere riding the train
To a place you bought out in the Coca

And it feels like all you'd have to do is step outside
Stop pacing around and waiting for some moment that might never arrive

But you're never gonna find it
Like when you were young and everybody used to call you Lucky

Nothing feels right in the winter and cold
Steam, heat, clang and the dark at your door
All the other rooms are a party tonight
And you never got an invitation

And you feel it in your bones, steady aching some more
Twenty-five years gone just an hour ago
Mama never told me there'd be days like these
'Til it was much too late to recover

And it feels like all you'd have to do is step outside
Stop pacing around and waiting for some moment that might never arrive

But you're never gonna find it
When your knees, they got so weak
But it's right here in case you need it
Like when you were young and everybody used to call you Lucky
When you were young and everybody used to call you Lucky

But it feels like you just might explode inside
You've been pacing around and waiting for some moment that might never arrive at all
What you don't have, you don't need it anymore
What you don't have, you don't need it anymore

But you're never gonna find it
When your knees, they got so weak
But it's right here in case you need it
Like when you were young and everybody used to call you Lucky
When you were young and everybody used to call you Lucky

If you're anywhere in Manhattan in the next eight days or so, let me know
Speak soon, stay lucky

My queen of the Bronx
Blue eyes and spitfire
I saw you walking back and forth about another boy
Thinking that you may want to leave

So give me the fevers that just won't break
And give me the children you don't want to raise
And tell me about the Cool, he sings to you in those songs
If it's better than my love, then bring it on

And take it back out to the streets where you know you used to be
For the Romeos uptown, if I bring you down
And you're tired of those vows
And you're really walking out

So give me the fevers that just won't break
And give me the children you don't want to raise
And tell me about the Cool, he sings to you in those songs
If it's better than my love, baby, bring it on

Stop clicking your red heels and wishing for home
I'm hearing that he tells you he can read your palms
Is he better than my love?
Is he better than my love?

So I found the letters with the reasons to things
You've been feeling that he says they'll never know
And you say the night just got too cold

Well, everybody's cold
Who's gonna keep my baby warm
When everybody goes?

So give me the fevers that just won't break
And give me the children you don't want to raise
And tell me about the Cool, he sings to you in those songs
If it's better than my love

Well, then wait a minute, wait a minute
Wasn't I good to you?
Wait a minute, wait a minute
Wasn't I good to you?
Wait a minute, wait a minute
You don't know what's good for you

So give me the fevers that just won't break
And give me the children you don't want to raise
And tell me about the Cool, he sings to you in those songs
You've been my baby for so long, come on, bring it on

Stop clicking your red heels and wishing for home
I'm hearing that he tells you he can read your palms
If he's better than my love
If he's better than my love, then go on, take it all

Now the lights go low on the avenue
And the cars pass by in the rain
University boys and the girls fill the bars
While I'm just waiting on the light to change

And the steam heat pours from the bodies on the floor
Down in the basement where the jackknives play
For the hub city girls in their ribbons and their curls
Who know the meaning of staying out late

They know the meaning of staying out very, very late

Singing who does it better than we do?
Them sopranos in Andy Diamond's choir
And whoa, nobody knows
I've been crazy for so long without you

They'll find me beat down out in the universe
Though I'll never forget where I'm from
I might have moved away from home and slept out there on my own
A million miles away in the storm

But the beat never leaves and the tempo's a relief
To my aching bones, rambling all over
And if I'm gone for too long I can always hum along
So don't you never forget what I told you

So don't you never forget what I told you

Everybody singing who does it better than we do?
Them sopranos in Andy Diamond's choir
And whoa, nobody knows
I've been crazy for so long without you

And just, baby, who sings the rhythm and the blues
So sad, so slow, like I do, like I do?
And oh, ain't it just like you want to?
And oh, ain't it just like you always wanted to?

Every night waiting
So long without you

Baby, who sings it better than we do?
Them sopranos in Andy Diamond's choir
And whoa, nobody knows
I've been crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy

And just, baby, who sings the rhythm and the blues
So sad, so slow, like I do
And just like you want to?

Did you grow up lonesome and one of a kind?
Were your records all you had to pass the time?
Or maybe you were taken by the mysteries of New Orleans
Or the uptight rowdy girls of Lower Chelsea

And we hustle in London but we live in the city
And we keep it down when we take a beating
Yeah, we keep it down with the radio on
And if you found a good man, don't take him home

When you're working full-time
And spending all of your nights never dancing like you did
While the gravity hangs on all the selling points you had,
Should've stayed and been the Queen of Lower Chelsea

Did you grow up a good girl, your daddy's pride?
Did you make all the right moves, take all the right drugs, right on time?
American girls, they want the whole world
They want every last little light in New York City

But we're hustling in London and we're fast asleep
And we keep it down when we take a beating
Yeah, we keep it down with the radio on
And if you found a good man, don't take him home

When you're working full-time
And spending all of your nights never dancing like you did
While the gravity hangs on all the selling points you had,
Should've stayed and been the Queen of Lower Chelsea

Well, they say these days nothing comes cheap
And everything has a price, everyone has a price
No nothing is free
Not even me

When you're working full-time
And spending all of your nights never dancing like you did
While the gravity hangs on all the selling points you had,
Should've stayed and been the Queen of Lower Chelsea

When you're working full-time
And spending all of your nights never dancing like you did
While the gravity hangs on all the selling points you had,
Should've stayed and been the Queen of Lower Chelsea

Goodbye, circus wheel, maybe you rest along the seas
I have given you the fire of my youth and the triumph of my enemies
And goodbye, fair weather home and your faithless factories
I have given you the blood and the truth from the wounds that they laid on me
And whatever they left, I kept it for my own heart

And the lonesome understand with the choirs in my head
We were orphans before we ever the sons of regret, my baby
On and on and on, how the alphabet boys carry on
And we were orphans before we were ever the sons in the songs

And now my lights, they never go down, they waltz the moon and the stars for me now
So you can find some local libertine to take your daughters out on the town
And I can feel it in my aging bones, how the sound of the rain mixes up
Into the fountains where I drank my hero's blood
And so I left you to find my very own hat full of rain

And the lonesome understand with the choirs in my head
That we were orphans before we ever the sons of regret, my baby
On and on and on, how the alphabet boys carry on
And we were orphans before we were ever the sons in the songs

And now I'm trying to keep it straight, learning all the streets and the alleyways
And learning where they lead now that I'm left alone here to drive
But it's so hard to stand on your own against mirrored glass hot and cold
But the clothes I wore just don't fit my soul anymore
No, the clothes I wore just don't fit my soul anymore

And the lonesome understand with the choirs in my head
We were orphans before we ever the sons of regret, my baby
On and on and on, how the alphabet boys carry on
And we were orphans before we were ever the sons of your songs

When we were young we were diamond Sinatras
Like something I saw in a dream
We kept our secrets and rules locked up tight like a tomb
Where the ballerinas lay

Got your pride and your prose
Tucked just like a tommy gun
Somewhere in the smoke
Just in case you need it

I know you got your pride and your prose tucked like just a tommy gun
Somewhere in the smoke, just in case you need it, son
I heard it's been a ride rougher than the last one
What'd you used to say? Oh, the harder they come

But he, he swears he's praying for a good time
And he, he said he just doesn't miss her
And I have heard you never really lose it, do you?
Do you?

You took it all gracefully on the chin
Knowing that the beatings had to someday end
You found the bandages inside the band
And the stitches on the radio

But there was something heavy holding you down
And there were whispers that were driving you crazy
And now you haunt the heart of this town
Remember when I knew a boxer, baby

And your tattooed knuckles, oh how they grind down
Try to be a man, tough just like your father
Try to settle down, more like c-calm down
Remember them songs and the reasons we were singing for

But he said he just doesn't miss her
And he, he says it's somewhere in his framework
And I have heard you never really lose it, do you?
Do you?

You took it all gracefully on the chin
Knowing that the beatings had to someday end
You found the bandages inside the band
And the stitches on the radio

But there was something heavy holding you down
And there were reasons that were driving you crazy
And now you haunt the heart of this town
Remember when I knew a boxer, baby

And you can wait all night long
Until it all goes wrong
And you waste away your soul
And you can wait, wait, wait, wait

You took it all gracefully on the chin
Knowing that the beatings had to someday end
You found the bandages inside the band
And the stitches on the radio

But there was something heavy holding you down
And there were whispers that were driving you crazy
And now you haunt the heart of this town
Remember when I knew a boxer, baby

Remember when I knew a boxer, baby

Oh Cherry Bomb, you are a mystery
Exploding sparkling quiet nights
My teenage heart pumped all my misery, baby
To fingertips that might ignite

And all along you knew my story, didn't you?
And all night long I carried yours
Your blood was mixed with wine and robbery, baby
And left us always wanting more

So don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
And god help the man who says "If you'd have known me when"
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts

Cherry Bomb, your love is surgery
Removing what you don't regard
And every breath felt like a funeral, baby
While you were packing up your car

And with the window down, I hear you're tired now
You borrowed everything and wore all your old welcomes out
Well, shame on you, my love, you sold your youth away
Memories for sinking ships that never would be saved

So don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
God help the man who says "If you'd have known me when"
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts

Shame, shame, shame, shame on you
You kept your mind and heart and youth just like a tomb
Shame, shame, shame, shame on you
You kept your mind and heart and youth just like a tomb

Just like a tomb
Just like a tomb
Just like a tomb

And don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
So god help the man who says "If you'd have known me when"
Old haunts are for all those ghosts

So don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
And god help the man who says "If you'd have known me when"

God help the man who says "If you'd have known me when"
God help this man, oh babe if you'd have known me when
Old haunts are all we've ever known

The Cool is dead, baby, go on to sleep
Rest your weary head and love a better me
And in the morning we'll start over again
That's how they do it up on the screen

See me and my baby, we would dance all night
But I don't know the steps in my baby's time
To do it like they do it for the girls uptown
I heard they light 'em up like the blues

So I'm waiting
And she's waiting
For us to remember

Was I good to you, the wife of my youth?
Not another soul could love you like my rotten bones do
So I will wait on the edges in between
These New York streets where you and I would meet

For twenty-nine years we loved that line
And I would take it easy if I had your mind
But I'm a cannonball to a house on fire
And you're slow like Motown soul

So what now, lover with your long black hair?
If I cut you open, baby, I can repair
Bandage your wounds with the salt on your tongue
And I'm the only one around here

So I'm waiting
And she's waiting
For us to recover

So was I good to you, the wife of my youth?
Not another soul could love you like my rotten bones do
So I will wait on the edges in between
These New York streets where you and I would meet

And only I can heal your wounds
Only I can heal your wounds
When you can't go on, when you can't go on
When you can't go on, when you know, hold on

Was I good to you, the wife of my youth?
Not another soul could love you like my

Was I good to you, the wife of my youth?
Not another soul could love you like my rotten bones do
So I will wait on the edges in between
And I will wait on the edges in between

And I will wait on the edges in between
These New York streets
On all these New York streets
Where you and I would meet

Don't write me no more letters, my mailbox is full of bombs
Between you and the kooks on my block
I don't remember the good times, I wasn't there and you were kind
And my wife has some dogs in our yard

And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours and I missed you for so long
When we were liars, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned

But I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young

There are no reasons to believe, I buried my faith in another plot
With your heart and your clothes when I find
That I don't feel you or recall, I'll put your bones out in the yard
For someone else to be called and called by

And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty gun
We were strangers many hours and I missed you for so long
When we were liars, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned

But I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young

I am older now
And we did it when we were young
I am older now
And we did it when we were young