Can't See the City From the Lights

I can't break my bad habits
On the backs of the cars
That go farther into the boulevards
Than I planned on traveling

Watch me unraveling on the pike
With the bike path showing me
My woman's wrath growing on me
Beyond me the silos
Pile on my back
And there's no track going
Where my rowing should be going

So knowing is something
I'm not capable of

And above me the sign blinks
Vacancy, Vacancy
And I see the city
Laid out like a fallen house
Of slightly bent cards

Where the rent checks bounce
And the shards of my phone list
Enlist new recruits
But I could be in Beirut
For how familiar it all feels
And repealing my ideals
Seems comforting somehow

Down on the north side
They tell me I'm the guy
But why would they lie
Just to see me smile
For awhile I think they're junkies
Who can shoot up
Other people's happiness

But what messes they get into
When their new woes set in
Blowing them to the beginning line
And rewinding them to the same time
When they were mired in passivity
And the best thing for me and them
Would be to say good-bye and then
Head off to higher ground

But I stick around
Why do I stick around?

Why?

Why do I sleep all day
Why do I eat and fuck all night
Why do I bother wearing glasses

When I can't see the city
From the lights