Tell me, tell me that You’re not gonna end it this way Tell me, tell me is your service still in high demand Bent into another man Silent on the windowsill Planting on your inside hill Another patch of dry land Reach in with just your hand to find another dollar spare Maybe you’ll go back on cam For one more day on dry land So tell me, tell me do you still shoplift groceries? and tell me, does he know you’re taking his car keys? Tell me, tell me, do you think you’ll go to Detroit next? And tell me, tell me, do you Think your life’s gone just as planned Bent into another man Silent on the windowsill Planting on the inside hill Another patch of dry land Stumble into marriage again Tie yourself up on the bed You can sell yourself as my new wife For one more day on dry land Please tell me, tell me Won’t I see you one last time? Tell me, tell me why can’t I save your life? Tell me, tell me, is there a home I’d help you mend? Oh, tell me, does he know that the walls are closing in? Bent into another man Silent on the windowsill Planting on the inside hill Another patch of dry land Look in the abyss for friends Find another name for life A tattoo across your inside thigh is just the salt for the banquet Tell me… The last, the last members of our line will die without a gasp of breath about our times

Wandering in the sun too long, you think you’ve become a daughter I’m a shepherdess with the sweetest face my flaccid lambs for the slaughter With my face in your thighs I’m Sada Abe and I’ve got a surprise You’re my star arboreal, In my garden memorial, a candle for my friend, Let's light a vigil before on the mend Have you no sense to try? Yes, you wanted it, but wanted it why? Ibuprofen can help sing your hymen to health And why shouldn’t you blush? The doc thinks you’re a loony who rushed. The candles don’t cry, they love in the ice, their sisterhood blood, They’re the butterflies who cut their cocoons open by themselves It’s not so bad, now you’re looking back You’re not just a gay boy, you’re a fag with a lack And here in my bag, I treasure it most A replica model of my very first host

We met three years ago last Thursday, oh, right to the day Taking long drives to school It’s a lifetime away And how much can one take, before the knot comes down? I see your reflexive smile The clothes in the pile, the unborn child It’s breached protocol you know how it goes There’s nothing to see here But I’m alone in my car I’m parked in the lot no will to disappear Anything just to stay here And how much can one take? This is the start of the breakdown A spiral formed from a smile, the sigh of your style, and it’s just not worthwhile You’ve got too much left at stake, but there’s an ocean you can’t drown Maybe it’s just your lifestyle Your body’s defiled, so you won’t reconcile I’m not a fool, I’m not afraid, I’m not alone I'm not confused, and I’m not embarrassed, It’s what I’m not, I never was anything, anything I am

About this time it was December 2nd, just before the holiday rush, and Simon just lost his job. It’s not his fault. HMV was a bad idea anyway, you have to predict which industries are going to shutter, and since you’re the first one to go, it can’t really be helped. But what was left? He guessed he could try the white collar scene again. He did have a degree, in Philosophy, from five years ago, and everyone else he knew was in professional caffeination or checkout stewardship. But he could try. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t even scared. He was just annoyed, annoyed at himself. He’s done better than this. He isn’t a professional unicorn anymore, there’s no need for his “best of both worlds” physique for the couples of Parkdale these days. And besides, that market had crashed. That man on the bus, what was he looking at? Did he look particularly young today? Was it the usual, did this old guy think he was Doogie Howser on his way to the next appointment? What was Sebastian going to say when he got back? Would he worry? Would he have to reassure him, and say, “Everything’s going to be alright,” and calm him down before trying to get his life together by himself? It doesn’t matter. It’s too damn cold already, and besides, he’s here.

I’m writing with my left hand. Haven’t written you for weeks. There’s no more use for words these days Emotions have enough critique And when the squad comes right back for me You know just what I’ll say? This noumenon can’t call it a day Get the girl to call it a day There’s no noumenon to call it a day So get the girl to call it a day It’s not a case of bad faith I know I’m still incomplete I just have no way to essay This existential defeat So I meander Jacob’s ladder Since you’re the only one who matters Phenomenon won’t call it a day Cast him out and call it a day Come martyr me and call it a day So get the girl to call it a day But when she found me, She found no light. She saw there’s nothing left inside. How could you teach me how not to cry, when you knew that’s how I’d die? Just how bad I am at lying? No noumenon, he’s called it a day. Get the girl and call it a day Take her home to me and call it a day Get the girl and call it a day Yeah, I’m phenomenon…

In the interest of belief, In the interest of the will on the wall, crossing the threshold of what’s yours and what’s mine, I know there’s not much left to say, I know there’s not much left to do, but you’re still you. I’ve been chasing you round the sun and back, and the devil’s been handing out my true name letters, but I know better, he only has my nickname… Have you seen my healthy hymen? The boys down in High Park, stroking their ladder to the concept of my reflection… We all want a look these days. But your voice is yours, there is no one on earth who sounds quite like you! Your body has sound, your face has timbre, but your eyes apologise... Such strong footsteps, but graceful gait... There’s nothing in life that relates. But please stop playing, but please stop playing, please can we stop this song today. Call it a sense, or a sociopath. Call it a lover that you won’t get back. Call it a priest, or call it a woman, Just don’t call it my name. There is nothing to try to be. I know you are, but you’re more than you want to be. So bargain with satyrs, make nineteen stab wounds, in the end, it’s nothing more than sound. But your voice is yours, there is no one on earth who sounds quite like you! Your body has sound, your face has timbre, but your eyes apologise... Such strong footsteps, but graceful gait... There’s nothing in life that relates. But please stop playing, but please stop playing, please can we stop this song today.

I know there’s a time and place for everything, but if you don’t know how to live right now, you won’t have anything, I know. You were a good kid with a dream and a plan. But you’re stuck here playing Smash. Yeah that’s fine, you’re twenty-nine but I fell for you at twenty-two. And you keep setting free, all these thoughts of me in the corners of your head, I’m walking around with a pair of scissors in my nightgown. That dream still scares you, right? To wake up at night and think of me? You must be pretty lonely. Well it’s hard to begin, when you’ve lived life again. Well it’s true, if it would help you, I once, and I do, love you. I remember when we’d ride our bikes with nowhere to go, in the middle of night Maybe we’d find a cafe That was all we needed, all we needed to try You’d bring your umbrella, it caught the wind, and you looked so upset but I laughed, the charm of you thrusting, your grimace, as gusts of wind blew you back, well alright Do you think that I’d never seen, or told no one your wildest dreams? My dad still asks about you, he hopes that you’re okay, too. It’s hard to begin when you’ve lived life again yeah, four names and six places can get tiring but I’ve loved you so long please try to belong I may not be here, but you still aren’t gone I wonder about how you’ve been since then You wonder about me too, well, I bet I never was good at these classes, I would take all your notes, but we live in new towns now… You were going to be a lawyer, or was it a writer? Or was it a fireman? Well, I knew that you’d do what you needed to, I know you’d believe in you. Do you think you’ll call me this time? Do you think you’ll try to reconnect our lines? I know it’s a bad time, I know it’s been far too long … far too long, so alone. It’s hard to begin when you’ve lived life again yeah, four names and six places can get tiring but I’ve loved you so long please try to belong I may not be here, but you still aren’t gone “Have you taken up sewing?” “Have you tried doing yoga?” “Have you made any friends?” Will you see another human again? Now another one is in this house Another psychology you can’t live without And when it’s gone, it’s gone You can’t remember what you were when alone No one’s seen you around for days I can’t help but feel that I’ve been replaced by the thought of what I am to you, tending the wounded parts of you So let go, oh let go! Just let fade me away… Do you still shoplift groceries? Have you no sense to try? Maybe it’s just your lifestyle It’s not a case of bad faith I know there's not much left to say Just let me fade away Just let me fade away