Lanyards

When you're stuck out in the middle you just
Figure that there's something you're missing
But it turns out that California is
Just tripping and disinterested kissing
Back in my hometown there was nothing but the hum of the locusts
And the rest of my life to get used to being washed out of showbiz

I was down around the docks, but I never saw anyone surfing
From a distance it looked pretty
Much perfect, but it's different in person
The doctor said he only wants to help me make more healthy decisions
Went out around the 4th of July, and I was back by Thanksgiving

I danced around the subject
I swam in the Pacific
Like the Westernmost American
Lanyards into laminates
Everybody's trying to get
The right kind of wristband

Banging on the door again
She just wasn't answering
Showbiz is a struggle, man
Someone called an ambulance
Straightened out her necklace
And we sped to Good Samaritan

That girl from the Genesee Cleaners wasn't from there either
We sunk into the seats downtown at some second-shot theater
She took me home to her place in a
Camper van behind some old warehouse
Said she couldn't come down and crash until we listened to "Wipe Out"

Her character's cool, she's just dialing in her motivation
She's into new things, but she won't go to a second location
She's never gone deep, but she might make an exception for "Shark Week"
When they kicked in the door they said
That's way too much blood for a nosebleed

Hospital security
Everybody needs to see the right color wristband
She said she had a meeting
I thought they were mistaken
But depression isn't kidding man

The scene stuck in my head of her spread out on her bed
Like she's showing off her wingspan
I sat in heavy traffic
I drowned in the Pacific
Then I went back to the heartland

The doctor said he only wants to help me make some better decisions
Went out around the 4th of July, and I was back by Thanksgiving
I saw a few stars, but I never made it into a movie
Still trying to make moves, but I'm back in Independence Missouri