Conor Oberst
Cleanse Song
Hear the chimes, did you know
That the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome
And all of this sorrow?

See the new pyramids
Down in old Manhattan
From the roof of a friend's
I watched an empire ending

Heard it loud and long
The river's ohm
Time marching on
To a mad man's drum

Don't forget what you've learned
All you give is returned
And if life seems absurd
What you need is some laughter

And a season to sleep
And a place to get clean
Maybe Los Angeles
Somewhere no one's expecting

On a detox walk
Through a Glendale park
Over sidewalk chalk
Some wrote in red, "start over"
So I muffle my scream
On an Oxnard beach
Full of fevered dreams that scare you sober
Into saltless dinners

Take the fruit from the tree
Break the skin with your teeth
Is it bitter or sweet?
All depends on your timing

Like a meeting of chance
With a train station glance
Many lifetimes have passed
In a instant reminded

Of a millstone house in a seaside town
When your heart gave out in a mission bed
So your wife gave birth to a funeral dirge
As you woke up purged as a wailing infant
In Krung Thep, Thailand

Hear the chimes, did you know
That the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome
And our joy and our sorrow?