The Scenic Route

I take the scenic route home
Even though it takes an extra twenty minutes
And sometimes it's late
And I'm tired
And yes, the scenic route has more cops on it
And yes, you still have to drive by the sketchy gas station
And the restaurant that's probably run by the mob
But it still beats the other route
And so
I take it

I take it
Because when I take the other route
I have to drive by
Run-down houses
And that sad church
And the sad school
Next to the sad church
That I imagine sad children go to
And the whole thing is just sad

And even though
You know, I like where we live
We also, happen to live
Ten minutes
From a really, really bad neighborhood

BUT

We also live twenty minutes
From a really, really nice neighborhood

A cute neighborhood
With nice houses
And nice schools
And Mom and Pop shops
And a pizza parlor
With one of those cartoon Italian guys on the window
With the funny mustache
That curls up on both ends
And I know there's a name for what kind of mustache that is
But I can't think of it right now

The point is
One day I want to live in that neighborhood

But in the meantime
We live in our neighborhood

Between a good neighborhood
And a bad neighborhood
And even though it's quicker to drive through the bad neighborhood
It depresses me

It depresses me to drive that route
So I take the scenic route

Even though it's not traditionally scenic
Because there aren't really trees
Or parks
Or statues of people
Who fought in the Revolutionary War

But it's...

It makes me feel like
We're on our way

It makes me feel like
We're on our way to something better

It makes it feel like it's close

Like it's closer
Than it actually is

So I drive through it
And I pretend
And when I get home

I feel better

I feel better about where we live
And who we are
And what we have and...

It just makes me feel better, okay?

And that...

...Seems worth it

It seems worth it
To take
That extra time

If it tricks me into
Feeling better