Academic

I've been waste-deep
in the burning meadows
of my mind
In the engine
In cold December
shooting fire from the hose

Now turn off your lights
'cause I'm not coming home
'til I'm delivered for the first time

I was first-born to a parade
that follows in rows
down a narrow cold black river
faceless shadows
moving slow

I would move swift when
the sounds of a trumpet would blow
I've been the puppet
I've been the strings
I know the vacant face it brings

Now the bells of curfew
They may ring before I'm through
But soon
I'll be delivered for the first time

You might keep clean
in the back of an angel motorcade
It doesn't matter who walks in
you know, the joke is still the same
You'll just wake up
like a disposable lover
decomposed
I've been gone
I've been remembered
I've been alive
I've been a ghost

So now, if downtown explodes
I'll still be on this road
'til I'm delivered for the first time

'Cause I, I once heard
that you gotta learn
how to blend in to this mess
Where nothing's hard
nothing's precious
and nothing's smooth or flawless

Now, no more amused
just screaming to be delivered
for the first time

Now I'm ten miles in the deep
and mighty blue sea
Looking back, towards a long white beach
burning up into yellow flames

And I just wave back
like a little boy up on a pony
in a show
'cause I can't fix
something this complex
any more than I can build a rose

So just keep on letting go
'cause I must be close
to being delivered for the first time

Now I'd rather bleed out
a long stream from being lonely
and feel blessed
Well than drown, laying face down
in a puddle of respect
I was once lost
in the corridors of the arena
in blindfolds
I've been the bull
I've been the whip
I just pulled down the matador

So now, turn on your lights
'cause I'm coming home
I've been delivered for the first time