Mainland

(album: Hope Downs - 2018)

I said, "I'm just a servant to my base desires"
She said, "I'll tell you a few things, free of charge:
Steer clear of jagged rock, tread careful at the higher level
This ain't no game, but you can play if that's what you want"

Then she said, "We are just paper boats bobbing adrift afloat
While winds of fortune shove us where they will"
Woke up coughing on the shore, cold outcrop broken, sore
Back on the mainland, the chimps were coming up trumps

And all I saw was burning blue fading into blinding white
Wade out past the rotting pier, out to the open water
Son of a red roof city, and her, the full moon's daughter
And back on the mainland, back on the mainland
Cool change was rolling over, black sky was getting lower
On golden sand

We stared into the haze, ocean merging with sky
And talked about the land of our fore-mothers
Now that we've shut the gate, it would be funny if it
Didn't make you want to cry
This is just the bed we've woken up in

And all I saw was burning blue fading into blinding white
Wade out past the rotting pier, out to the open water
Son of a red roof city, and her, the full moon's daughter
And back on the mainland, back on the mainland
Cool change was rolling over, black sky was getting lower
Green dreams were folding over, as we sailed off the mainland

Hooked
Never coming off the line
Wake up feeling fine
Her eyes under pale moonlight
Far corner of the earth
Tripping up on the edge
Big impossible now