The Chain

Only the stubborn leaves are left
The backyard breathes it's morning breath
And this time of year it wreaks of winter
I'm longing for a change of view
Change of pace and faces too
My bare handed construction crew is full of splinters

Tear it down now, build it back up again
Tell me now, when will I break the chain

She says, "Why can't you be happy, you got everything you need"
I said, "Happiness is moments, they come and they leave"
On a sidewalk selling cigarettes, a slight resistance of arrest
His last words as he's choked to death, "I can't breathe"

Tear it down now, build it back up again
Tell me now, when will we break the chain

It's too late to set it straight, the lines been lost
The air is cold and the ground is frozen
The windshields filled with frost
I'm thinking back to the early summer, Fourth of July
A haze of heat and bittersweet explosions in your eyes

Now the days are long and lonely like the books upon my shelf
Everyone's posing for pictures they're taking of themselves
It's a rhyme inside a riddle, a complex code to crack
How we always love the people that we know won't love us back

Tear it down now, build it back up again
Tell me now, when will we break the chain