Northern Winds lyrics - Cursive

Northern winds came whistling through evergreens
Like trains
One temper broods until a temperature breaks
And blooms -- smashing and tearing what we've worked toward
One hand will break what the other hand builds
Board the windows up, keep the cellar locked
We'll feign restraint until it's over and settled
Our wills are just as strong as the walls we built for them
I won't rebuild what I have crumbled
I'm tired
Tired

What is faith -- it's been replaced by insurance policies
Once one thing breaks just have it replaced
Like faith... once whistled through the trees
Now so still
One hand will break what the other hand builds

Board the windows up, keep the cellar locked
You never know when little fevers could flare up
For ever day it's calm, there must be be something brewing
There's always something storming through these evergreens
Like trains

Northern winds came...
Northern winds came...
Crashing...
And burning down our wills

Abscense Makes The Day Go Longer lyrics - Cursive

Please hang my raincoat
I guess that I'll stay a while
While I wait on the return
It seems the distance you've made
Has since lost its meaning
Meanwhile, I've meant to ration my thoughts
To help quicken this sloth driven day
As I wait, my joints slowly stiffen
They're warning me that something is nearing
Disaster...
Disaster...
Hailstorm...

Memories like fireflies
A green hue of imagery
But much too random to see clearly
And I don't recall much between you and me
Grey and cloudy
This tragedy plays itself over again in my mind
What's my line
Where are the cue cards
Memorize my actions, my discourse
Like a discontented fool...
This just won't do
It's no use
These crushing days

Absence made your heart bruise
You're all bruise
You're all bruise

7": "The Icebreaker" (1998)

Icebreakers lyrics - Cursive

A right at the light
It's the long way home
But we've got a long time to kill
Before our guts are gutted
Of bad blood they've spilled

I left on the light
Directions won't make sense to unsensing eyes
I've such insensitive eyes
I'm so fucking blind
Aren't I?

Or so it seems
But we just can't see anything
Past our sight or frames of mind
Our senses are snowblind
They've left us cold and crippled
Unwilling to reveal our bludgeoned egos

Turn off the light
This conversation's over
The verdict has arrived
There's no communication
When we're too deaf to hear opposing sides

These eyes have no sight past my mind
These senses are so blind
They've left me cruelly crippled
Encased within the ego
Frozen ego

Keep driving
Past the light
Keep driving
Out of mind
Out of sight

Pivotal lyrics - Cursive

Strung out on leaving
One leg stretched for the curb
The other one grounds itself against rebirth
So the swallows will stay in the barn
The finches left a long time ago
The fall must be oh so close

I cannot exist in this circumference
I keep a crippled leg on home base

Where I hang my crutches
I’m so weak and needy
My knees are so weak
Crutches keep me from kneeling
I need something I can fall back on
Something to relate to
Something to rotate to, now

Nothing is so far away
And nothing so good can ever stay
Now, could it?
And I know that the stars all have names
Some of them just aren’t as good as others
Some of them are just letters and numbers

Sometimes I forget
That the smallest things can be oh so big

Where’d you hang my crutches?
I’m so weak I’m bleeding
I bleed every week
Crutches keep me from kneeling
And there’s nothing here to fall back on
Nothing to relate to
Nothing to replace you

Now, nothing seems so far down
Down, I’ll shove my foot
Deeper into the ground

Polar lyrics - Cursive

Anchors down
We've hit the bottom
A vacant resolution
We've always revolved to
But the pivot's loose
The axis is off-centered
Don't look down past your equator
Your balance has transcended your anchor

"Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes" (1997)

After The Movies lyrics - Cursive

After the movies
In the parking lot
We stared so long
And you kissed me
With ripe young breath
So I kissed you
One night as forever

In the movies
Well, they never had it so good
One moment
So infinite
On soft wet lips

And I miss you
Are you glad I'm finally gone?
I'm so sorry to hear that
I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry

Have I hurt you?
I have hurt myself
These sad songs won't change anything

Love as fragile as a wineglass
It should have been forever
Love as fragile as a wineglass
It couldn't last forever
I'm so sorry
It couldn't last forever

I remember how we kissed
One night as forever

Downhill Racers lyrics - Cursive

Hold your breath, dear
This ship is going down
We're all downhill
Running with our timebombs
These shins are cracked and splintered
These lips are crusted shut
These squinting eyes just sting me
These veins are drying me up

All my limbs
They're just tools
We're all stilted vechiles
These joints rust
These pores leak
Time gets selfish
Time is SPEED

The sweetest dreams... have murdered me. They murdered me. They murdered me.

Like the fear of unskilled labor in the nuclear family
It's the nightmare of digression that engulfs a history

All my limbs
They're just tools
Duplicated, mass produced
Running down
Losing speed
Time escapes us
Timing's everything.
Everything.

Everything... This is the tic in the heart
Everything... This is the beating of the clock
Everything... This is an absent blood clot
Everything... These are the seconds that I've lost
Everything... This is the slow-rush hour
Everything's so rushed (This is the slow-rush... hour)
Everything... This is the slow rush.

Ceilings Crack lyrics - Cursive

Passed out in your yard
My clothes were soaking in the morning rain
My head's just a bruise, like walking in a coma
Like a battered drone
All my limbs are numb

I've been driving past your house
Been pounding at your door
I know I'm just a peon to you
But I deserve more
Than arrogance
Condolences
My hearts are on the sleeves of my shirts scattered over your lawn
And the morning dew... kissed them

Drunk on Bastille Day
Throwing pennies at the broken birds
Scribbling plans on napkins
A sketch of broken angel wings under your bed
My bandages

Stumbled over to your house
I'll sneak in the back door
I know I've been an asshole to you, but that was before
The argument, the accident
Well, I've heard it's just a matter of time before the hour is spent
And my hour is spent
I can't afford it this time
I can't afford this time
I can't afford this time
I can't afford it...

The hour has come for retribution
I'm storming the walls down
I'm storming the walls down
The hour has come for retribution
I'm storming the walls down
I'm storming the walls down
Before this night's done, the wounds will be gone
I'm storming the walls down
I'm storming the walls down

The Dirt Of The Vineyard lyrics - Cursive

Less talk, more dancing
If we could push off the sick conversation one more night
I surely would
My shoes have gathered the dust of the vineyard
Have I soiled your gown?
There's soil on your gown, like sangria
Cleanses the heart
Our clogged hearts are choking on the grime
As the big band waltzes on
Your stranded eyes whisper...

"The dirt is out.
I can smell her on your velvet hands."
The dirt is out --
are we stuck in the motions again?

Oh, but was it sweet
In the vineyard
Sangria, won't you bless
The starving lips
Such virgin lips
Would choke on all this grime
I've found some dirt under my nails
I'll scratch and bite until...

The dirt is out
but sangria burns under my skin
The dirt is out --
I thought I'd never wash these hands again

Under my skin....

Target Group lyrics - Cursive

There's no use going to Des Moines
I heard it's just like here
I guess it's just like everywhere
As for us, I guess we're not immune
Look at our same plain face

Still I assume this subject identity
Shared with all the kids that qualify
And that's a pretty high percentage to embrace
But easier to clasify
'Cause all my friends are in the same target group
And all of them look like all of you

And they're restless in standstill
But they don't know where to go
They don't know...

I wish
I could dissappear
My unwhole self
Away from here
Away from here... NOW!

I don't want to let it sit around
Just make it go away
Let it cure itself, let it be a cure for us
And if I never leave this hole
Make sure you bury me here with all my dead friends
We'll make a toast to the ones who ran away

Just get me through...
Just get me through...
Just get me through....

Eight Light Minutes lyrics - Cursive

Clad.

I'm wearning thin my invitation.

I'll wear it out
But it's just eight light minutes I'm offering you
We could burn up so close
We could burn to our cores.
Burn to our cores.

Vermont lyrics - Cursive

Staring up at stars
From the back seat of a stationwagon
Carving the night
Trees keep marching by
Light poles blur into a stream
Blazing laser beams

All...
These...
Stars....

My thoughts are trivial pursuits
My heart's a bomb that's been defused
What now?

There's no more use for me
I'm wasting energy
Muscles are weaklings
Thoughts just defeat me
Numbness is effortless
I could get used to this

Driving through Vermont
Overwhelmed by the insignificance
My conscience was my crutch
For a heightened existence
This other wordliness

These...
Schoolboy...
Lies....

I've been deprived reality
Brought up by holy ghosts and saints
What now?

I'm the delinquent here
I'm the contagious one
This heart is hopeless
I feel the numbness
All Hail The Atheist
I could get used to this
I could get used to this
I could get used to this
I could get used to this

Dedication To Desertion lyrics - Cursive

Sweating with confidence
They're soiling our egos
And we're locked at the hip
Don't cut the cord too short

You've cut yourself off
I thought we agreed
No limb should be left
So severed and bleeding
What are you missing?
What are you missing?

A truth so disabling
Might blind my starving eyes
But weren't we locked at the hip?
You've cut the cord so short
What are you missing?
What are you missing?

You've cut yourself off
I thought we agreed
But some doctrines of faith
Can be so misleading

So what are you missing?
What are you missing?

Warped The Wood Floors lyrics - Cursive

When we were burning
These stained walls would swell with passion
Our sweat warped the wooden floorboards
You'd kick out the nightlight
And let the moon bleed through the window
Draping over naked bodies

We're killing time
Trying to love
What we can't find
But who does?
A drier heat than we know blistered me badly
We've all been burning out

I'll have a Gibson
My throat is dry from screaming blindly
At the wishing stars that wrecked me
They kinged me naive
Now I keep the nightlight on and watch the sweat drip from the ceiling

These summer nights
The streetlights burst flames
They screech too bright
They scream blind
A drier heat than we know blistered me badly
We've all been burning out

A drier heat than we know blistered me badly
We've all been burning... out

Warp the wooden floor
Kick out the light, kick off the bedsheets, and let the moon bleed in
Warp the wooden floor
Kick out the light, kick off the bedsheets, and let the moon bleed in

Retirement lyrics - Cursive

Our mistakes are scrawled upon the chalkboard
They're scribed across stained glass
They're posted on the billboards
A lackluster charade
And are we so naive to concede these forefathers?
Apparently we are

Well, apparently it's true
There's no slot machines past the pearly gates
Why do we kid ourselves?
We grow old and wise
We just lose our minds

The dinner is a hit
The guests are full of spirits
They gather around the husband
He's versed in party tricks
The wife is in the bedroom
Smearing her makeup, makeup, make it up
But she's got a lover on the side
Motels, cheap wine
She says "You can't base love off the pity fuck,
unless they've got a lot of money."

'Cause it's the games that we play
'Cause we need to exist
We're not humans, we're citizens
It's the one on the ground
With his hands on his heart
It's the cleavage of division
It's all jagged and jaded
But it suits us
We just fake it through

The Farewell Party lyrics - Cursive

"Bon Voyage"
And promptly he hung up the phone
There was a doorbell ringing
So he snuck out onto the terrace
He said "If these were my last words,
would they even make print?
If all I had to say was simply over said
by those old heretics."
These words are counterfeit
Xeroxed off of memory
And no one's listening
Hey

Twilight dawns
All the champagne is gone
All that's left is left behind
Doorbells, still lives

"Since you're leaving
was it a hollowed out heart?
It seems like you've been yearning for some wordly position.
Somewhere you can curl up in a little ball."

It seems the world collapses
In the mother's womb
The place of birth
Where we're all condemned
It's the warm, sad, jaded end
Starving for salvation of a terrace
Drunk, tired, and alone
Farewell dead skin

These words are second-hand
They're dry
They're cracked-plastic lies
They're cheap old whores
Who wasted their lives
In search of the warmest womb

EP: "The Disruption" (1996)

A Disruption In The Normal Swing Of Things lyrics - Cursive

The days are spent
Chatting amongst the workers
Of how cold it is outside
Not to mention their greatest fears
Like finding their children neglected and naked
In bed with some crack fiends, like a substitute for love

And no one notices,
Something disrupting the normal swing of things.
These hands are shaking
They’ve lost all trust in me
Regrets regrets
This memory has weakened
Now I recall everything
What’s with all the commotion?
I swear there’s nothing to see here.
You didn’t see it coming,
Already

This is the part where the ambulance comes.
There’s a dead man in the street;
We gotta take him to the morgue.
He can’t be here;
He’s been blocking traffic for hours.
We can’t find him help, his will.
Something’s disrupting the normal swing of things.
This institution will run efficiently.

Standard regrets
Send the misses our regards.
Sign it "deepest sympathies"
Sympathies: some patronage for the weak.

I swallowed some musk
And now I’m choking it up.
I refuse to say they won;
I win, the poisons in this drum,
In my head, On my head
All those phonies at heart
I've wrote this down a thousand times,
I think it's really dark
I don’t need this
This just walked in
Break it down [x9]
I don’t need this sympathy.
I don’t need this.

There's A Coldest Day In Every Year lyrics - Cursive

Hey, are you sleeping?
We've got nothing better to do
Than just lay here, together
Let it pass...
It wasn't so hard to destroy
Now it's not so easy to forget
And it's so cold in here
Are you awake?

The Knowledgeable Hasbeens lyrics - Cursive

Knock the wind the wind right out
Knock it off
I can't breathe
Could I sing another line?
I think my knees are getting weak
And yes, these knees are weak
But who would believe in a hypocrite who sells himself
Who's your scapegoat now?
Well, it's a million to one, but I think I got the part
Trampled through the grind
I wouldn't extend my disgust
But there's no one here except you
I don't see the point
In carrying on
We could make the best
Out of nothing
Who's your scapegoat now?
Who's your scapegoat?
Who's your scapegoat now?
Well, it's a million to one, but I think I got the part
Trampled through the grind
I would sustain this contempt, but I'd be wasting time again
Hey, it's all I've got
Please leave the confessions
I could find a job
Waiting tables
Or something

A Disruption In Our Lines Of Influence lyrics - Cursive

After the fool of the rat race is gone
Who is going to be there to turn you on?
Some believe in a god
Made of corrugated steel

Disconnected
Assembly lines of communication
Reactions
Are fueled by the example of isolation

How can you escape
The constructs you've made?
How do you erase
The influence gained?
A man can only be as real
As the ones who produced him

Disconnected
Assembly lines of communication
Reactions
Are fueled by the example of isolation

Deprivation
The opposites of freedom
I'm confused by what they mean
But they've seen the same things

This is the part where
The ambulance comes
I'll play the dead man

Disruptions
Confusion just seeps into aggravation
Influence has written this song
I wish I could write one
Just some sad song

Cursive other songs:

Adapt lytrics - Cursive

I want the rich boy...
I want the rich boy
But the rich boy, he doesn't want me...
I like the pretty girls...
I like the pretty girls
But the pretty girls, they don't like me...

Adapt...
Adapt...
Adapt...
Nobody wants to be left in their past...
Adapt (adapt)...
Adapt (adapt)...
Adapt (adapt)...
Adapt...
Nobody wants to be told how to act,
Nobody wants to be held back...
Be a good kid now...
Just do what they ask.

But I want the nice house...
I want the nice house
But the nice houses don't cost too cheap.
Well I want the best god...
Yeah, I want the biggest god
But those gods are so hard to believe...

Adapt...
Adapt...
Adapt...
Somebody has to keep waving the flag...
Adapt (adapt)...
Adapt (adapt)...
Adapt, adapt, adapt (adapt)...
Somebody has to keep justice intact,
Somebody has to get stabbed in the back.
It's for a good cause...
Now do what they ask.

I am a good boy...
I am a good boy...
I am a good boy...
I am a good boy...
I am a good boy...

Nonsense lyrics - Cursive

Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do
bah-duh-buh-buh-buh-buh
does it matter now, what the songs about?
do-do-do-do-do-do
buh-duh-bu-buh-buh
does it matter now, what the songs about?

I really don't want to write another "I'm a dick" song again.
does it matter now, what the songs about?
my my oh my oh bed shak I keep saving its deafening
does it matter now, what the songs about?

no matter what I did no matter what I said
it doesn't matter know, you've gotta figure it out
we can continue on such non-sense to fill the days
and we wont speak of ugly things
but when these lyrics come out you'll scream at me
one foots in your mouth, the other ones in your grave

so sing your heart outloud, sing your heart outloud
sing your heart outloud
do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do
bah-duh-buh-buh-buh-buh
sing your heart out loud
I'm a dead man from singin
sing your heart out loud

Once lyrics - Cursive

Once a liar, always a liar.
Once a cheater, always a cheater.
Once a day you'll remember her death.
Once you'll love but you'll love once too many.

Just this once.
Just this once.

I forget who you're with hon, where's your heart sleep this week?
Who's your baby, your hookup, your mama, your sugardaddy?
Once you're guilty you'll carry your due.
Once you spill out your heart, there's no refill.
Once you told me you loved too much.
Once you start it's never enough.

Just this once.
Just this once.
Oh..

Once a liar, always a liar.
Once a cheater, always a cheater.
Once a day you'll remember her death.
Once you'll love but you'll love once too many.

Just this once.
All right...
Just this once.

Sinner's Serenade lyrics - Cursive

Oh God, no - please don't tell her
what I've done
I can hardly look at her
everything I love, I hurt
Oh God, yes - she is love
she is sex
But I used her for the game,
A scapegoat to carry the blame
for a hate song
For a hate song
It's like masochism - I hate
these hate songs
Holding a dove
then clipping it's wings off
Someone you love
and you give them the kiss off
Someone to love - and you fuck it up!

How I hate these dirty words I emulate
How i hate ruining what I create
How I hate this (and I hate that
you don't fall for it) - this
sinner's serenade
This hate song (this self defecation)
isn't helping anyone
Save the sinner
Save the sinner
He knows not what he's done to himself
What he's done to others
He hides behind words
he hides behind liquor
He hides in his bedroom with his guitar
screaming, "Sinner!"

Oh God, look what I've done
in the bedroom.

Ten Percent To The Ten Percent lyrics - Cursive

You seemed like such a smart young man.
And your Fathers got a lot of friends.
We didn't bother to check your references.
We're a successful company.
With endless opportunity.
So why must you shit where you eat?
It all started out in the warehouse.
Watching the stock watching the clock.
Taking shots from a flask of scotch.
My first evaluation came.
Remarkably they sang my praise.
"Keep up the pace. You could see a raise in pay."
This seemed like a good challenge to me.
So I started a game of craps in the back alley.
What better way to supplement minimum wage.
Despite these bits of debauchery,
The managers failed to notice me.
So what the fuck?
I started stealing things.
Once inventory rolled around
A few sku items could not be found.
Some DVD's and a wide screen TV.
"We'll dock these items from your pay.
We expect you to finish out the day.
Your father must be so ashamed."

Fuck you and your job.
And I'll shit where I want.
This country is gonna go out with a bang.
This country is headed for Dependence Day.
So lay out your blanket and wait for the fireworks display.

You're restless devoided your job keeps you broke.
Big Business booms and makes sure that we don't.
So get in the ring, you just ran out of rope.

I'll give ten percent to the ten percent.
Now hand me those classifieds.

The Bitter End lyrics - Cursive

When the bitter end arrives,
will we be at war or sadly, madly in love?
Will we beg for one more night?
Or will we have our bags packed
waiting at the door?

When the bitter end arrives,
Will it be a finish line or a starting gate?
Brass and pearl, or maggots and dirt --
bittersweet or just desserts?

When you didn't answer your phone
I knew there was something wrong;
you'd been a wreck all week.
When it's unbearable,
the more unavailable the world can often seem

When the bitter end arrives,
will we be exhausted or will we toss and turn?
Will we claw out our eyes?
Or will we simply close them
and let sleep seep in?

When your bitter end arrived
you could've at least
chicken-scratched some cliched note:
"on the razor's edge",
"at the end of your rope",
"the bitter pills you just had to swallow."

When you didn't answer your phone
suddenly the last time we spoke
became the last time we spoke.
What would I have said if I knew
just how desperate the situation was?

But I know that I knew --
such overstated clues --
you stopped eating, kept drinking,
stopped showing up for work.
When you're alone, did you utter dying words?

Why'd the bitter end have to come?
Why'd the bitter end have to come for you?
So sad, so soon.
When your bitter end came around,
did you wonder how your sentence would sound?
An exclamation or a question mark?!

The Censor lyrics - Cursive

[from "Dorothy At Forty" single]

It's not a song about old friends,
backstabbers, leeches, or cretins.
It's not about you, and it isn't true.

It's not a song about family,
how the lack thereof can be crippling.
It's not about, and it isn't true.

These songs are getting smothered
by the consideration of others.

It's not a song about another girl,
an old flame I'd like to rekindle.
It's not about you, and it isn't true.

It's not about our conversations
(don't worry, I'm not taping).
It's not about you, and it isn't true.

Some stories can get so dull,
so you get a little personal...

Lately, I've been afraid,
maybe I say too much.
Maybe the ones involved are feeling the rub
-- while I play dumb.

I'm sure this sentiment
could come off as arrogant;
to assume you're all hung up
on such triflin' melody.
It's not you -- it's me with whom I'm concerned...
What have I done?

...censored.