Open-Ended Life

Pack a change of clothes

and a pillow for the road for when we drift off to sleep

Put the sketches and the notes in a box labeled "burn with furniture"

We will watch the fire burn the whole entire house we built down to ashes

From the mirror we'll admire how the flame quickly retires

we won't waste no long goodbyes on the smoke or foolish lies

that finally passed us

Let's find something new to talk about

I'm tired talkin' 'bout myself

I spent my whole life talking to convince everyone

that I was something else

And the part that kinda hurts

is I think it finally worked

and now I'm leaving

I get the feeling things have changed

but the mystery to me

is where and when along the way

did anyone decide that they believed me

I was taught to keep an open-ended life

and never trap myself in nothin'

I was told to keep an open-ended life

and never trap yourself in nothin'

When we settle down in another nowhere town

let's tell our neighbors

We won't be here long

and we'll be quiet but don't go asking any favors

I can't stand the unexpected, uninvited visits from too many strangers

My trust has dwindled down

and I can leave here just as abruptly as I came here.

I was taught to keep an open-ended life

and never trap myself in nothin'

I was told to keep an open-ended life

and never trap yourself in nothin'