Undertow

When the metaphor gets rusty
Like a sword that won't unsheathe
Like a dying man forgetting how to breathe

When the message gets corrupted
Like a fighter on the take
Like a hitman at the bottom of a lake

That's when a sound disrupts the silence
Sounds like everything you are
Sounds like everyone's a star

When the mind becomes infected
Like a virus in the veins
Like an overdose that dulls you to the pain

When the truth is running empty
Like a jet that's headed down
Like the smile and wave that tells you how to drown

That's when a sound disrupts the silence
Sounds like everything you are
Sounds like everyone's a star

I'd like to stay here but I'm running out of air
You can only hold your breath so long
And then you stop
Cause you no longer care
The water rushes in where once I could lay low
And any second now we'll all be pulled down
With the undertow

When the outcome is decided
Finish last or finish first
It gets hard to know exactly which is worse

When the towel has been thrown in
And you still can't tell who won
That's when all your grand designs have come undone

That's when a sound disrupts the silence
Sounds like everything you are
Sounds like everyone's a star

I'd like to stay here but I'm running out of air
You can only hold your breath so long
And then you stop
Cause you no longer care
The water rushes in where once I could lay low
And any second now we'll all be pulled down
With the undertow


(for Don Wherry, 2001)

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