The call came and I told the kids not to worry I got dressed and left for my plane in a hurry The cab driver said: „It’s the worst news I’ve heard in a while“ I got to the airport an hour too late But the plane was still there, the flight had been delayed I’d just found my seat when they handed out drinks and fake smiles When we took off I tried not to remember those horrible days Back in early september When all I could see was smoke and debris And that cold camera’s eye staring at me Or back on that beach where the water had torn the flesh from the streets All the mothers that screamed Bodies all bleached by the salt of the sea And that cold camera’s eye staring at me Like the firemen we passed where those trains had collided They fought to save lives, we reported how many had died They told us to leave them alone While I uttered words into a microphone I could smell the burned flesh while the cameraman laughed and lit a cigarette Then the light turned green And I said what you say when you’re live on TV I said: „Hi, this is me, right at the scene of a terrible...“ Suddenly somebody screamed So they couldn’t hear me, the anchorman said: „Let’s just do commercials, we’ll be right back“ Now the plane’s touching down and I open my eyes The sun’s coming up, there’s a city to the right I see smoke in the distance I think of my family, how much I miss them The floods and the fires, the earthquakes and wars Are making me sick, I can’t take any more I’m wading through blood while my children grow up I’m tied to this camera And it never stops It’s just rolling and rolling, until the end While my wife gets a life and a new taste in men When this week’s disaster strikes Don’t make me leave home again

You feel it in your backbone Like the music from your headphones That he’s not going to stay It’s a little bit sad but OK And you knew that it was over From the moment you got sober You’ve been all over town while he sat there holding a frown Well you’ll never stop the drinking And he couldn’t help thinking: „If she’s just gonna stray might as well walk away“ I’d say: It’s not a bad thing, it’s the way that you are It’s not a gold ring, it’s a tape in your car It’s not a long break, it’s a breakup It’s not a scar, it’s just your make-up It’s hard work But it can’t be done when you’re in love with everyone Something must be done So you wake up every morning To the sound of someone yawning It’s the boys and the booze Yeah, sometimes you get them confused Do you wish for something bigger With your finger on the trigger For a quiet little life as someone’s wife I’d say: It’s not a bad thing, it’s the way that you are It’s not a gold ring, it’s a tape in your car It’s not a long break, it’s a breakup It’s not a scar, it’s just your make-up It’s hard work But it can’t be done when you’re in love with everyone Something must be done So you knew that it was over From the moment he got sober But you don’t make a scene because they never quite get what you mean Now the days are getting colder While your friends are getting older And you just want to stop, get a life, get a drink and grow up It’s not a bad thing, it’s the way that you are It’s not a gold ring, it’s a tape in your car It’s not a long break, it’s a breakup It’s not a scar, it’s just your make-up It’s hard work But it can’t be done when you’re in love with everyone Something must be done

We talk of starting over though we know it’s something we would never do We’re clinging to our twenties like you’re clinging to your panties when I want you You talk of starting over but we know the party’s over It’s all downhill from here Now you’re looking pretty good for your age While I started looking kind of like my father these days Now I can understand that you don’t want me Because I am Switzerland and you can’t count on me I’m distant and polite, I hate to pick a fight I’m the opposite of funny I am Switzerland without the money Now you don’t even protest when I touch you, you just turn around and yawn This was never passionate but all the passion that we had is gone, gone I started growing titties and you started getting thinner You’re cold as Dana Scully and I’m bald as Walter Skinner It’s not that you reject me, we’re far beyond rejection In every window that we pass I stare at your reflection Staring emptily back at me Now I can understand that you don’t want me Because I am Switzerland and you can’t count on me I’m distant and polite, I hate to pick a fight I’m the opposite of funny I am Switzerland without the money The money and the parties The parties and our shallow friends The drinks we spilled on dresses Dresses that I bought you back when Everything was brighter Our days were so much lighter Our nights were so much wilder Our sundays and our long talks Our long talks and our arguments The way you used to win them The way I used to touch your hand Now you don’t even see me I’m jerking off to magazines To young girls in bikinis Now I can understand that you don’t want me Because I am Switzerland and you can’t count on me I’m distant and polite, I hate to pick a fight I’m the opposite of funny I am Switzerland without the money

So if you could see these bones It’s a hairline fractured architecture The cracks don’t show But I feel them grow with every hand I shake Back home There’s a bed that’s waiting while I’m contemplating It’s a lonely road And the same old view from changing windows Life’s just a meeting away If I could take a break Maybe just one day, maybe just one... I know I’ve made mistakes But I know what you did every time I went away Some nights When I can’t find sleep I get drunk and call you From roadside telephones But you’re never home Life’s just a meeting away Here on this hotel bed Staring at the ceiling with a sinking feeling Wishing I was dead Because it can’t be any worse than what you made of me There’s a life that’s waiting while I’m contemplating But I’m stuck here, you’re gone You were right, I was wrong Life’s just a meeting away

When you kill the lights Does it kill you as much as it kills me that he’s by your side Mother and wife It’s a role that you play But I wish you’d play dead every night Can you wash me away like the chalk on a crime scene When you get home Can you wash me away like the chalk on a crime scene It’s a game that we play It’s a word we don’t say It’s the way you don’t stay and sneak out the back door On mondays and fridays when he works the night shift Sundays and wednesdays Do you feel alive at this crime scene Can you wash me away like the chalk on a crime scene So when you get home Could you tell everyone you’re alive Can you wash me away like the chalk on a crime scene When you get home Can you wash me away like the chalk on a crime scene

Friday night at ten to nine Back then we used to be late, these days you gotta be on time Drag the amps inside The guy behind the bar says: „Tune up that guitar, it don’t sound right!“ „What’s your name again?“ Like he wants to know He says that other band once opened for Status Quo I nod and get the merch from the bus I know they certainly once opened for us The stage is small and the crowd is slow It’s five past ten and that other band is ready to go The sound is pretty lame But there’s girls screaming their names in the front row The guy behind the bar says they once opened for Whitesnake Now do I look like I want to know, for christ’s sake? I just nod and drag the merch to the bus Back then Whitesnake used to open for us And all the stars that we met And all the girls in my bed And all the fun that we had Remember that? And all the things I forget With all that noise in my head Like all the fans that we had Remember that?

My heart’s a river you can’t divide Your blood’s a current I can’t fight Beneath the pounding of the waves My love, we’re safe You were the promise of the coast The harbor that I miss the most I stood at the porthole and stared at the sea When I heard you calling out for me I kept it a secret from family and crew Because rats dream of mazes and I dream of you I am the ocean, I am the tide The fog that’s swallowing your light Beneath the blanket of the waves My love, we’re safe I stood at the rudder and watched the bow break I laughed as the men tried to escape The rocks took my sadness, the waves took my crew Rats dream of mazes and I dream of you

It’s a long way It’s a long way home from where you are There’s a suitcase that you keep in the back of your car It’s got stickers on the front from places you’ve never been to Postcards sent from places you’ve never seen It’s a long way It’s a long way home from where you are But it ain’t gonna stop if you keep on making it up There’s a bedroom It still looks like you were living here There’s a picture that we took before you disappeared We really missed you when dad had his surgery I know you couldn’t make it, there’s always some place to be It’s a long way It’s a long way down from where you are But it ain’t gonna stop if you keep on making it up

The breeze was soft, the streets were moonlit The night he took her to the movies She’d had a crush on him since june and started acting kind of foolish So when the credits finally rolled they were quite busy in the back Kissing heavily and touching, it made the hair rise on her neck Until someone threw them out into the warm and welcome dark He said he’d walk her home, they took the long way through the park And that’s where it happened, she just collapsed and slipped out of his arms There was a disconcerting crack as the asphalt met her neck And while the ambulance drove off he just got down on his knees Yelling: „Lord, I beg you, please! If you could only bring her back Oh, I’d do anything for that I’d spread your word in every church, drag a cross through every aisle Oh, I was living in denial, but I could change, or I could try“ But there was no reply There was no reply but a heavy sigh Such a heavy sigh Until finally a weary voice said: „Accept it, son – she’s dead I know that’s just too bad, but I can’t change a thing ’bout that In fact I rarely get involved, all the problems that I solved came back in the end And I got problems of my own, I gotta work to pay the rent Some nights I just can’t stand myself, though the bottle mostly helps I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but I’m sure you’ll get along And I’m sure I’m not the first dad to walk away from his kids You know I tried to be a good one, but I’ve given up on it Oh, I’ve given up on it“

We once had this place It felt warmer and safer, but that was just then Once I had faith It’s hard to believe That we can’t go home again It’s hard to describe to someone who doesn’t know what it feels like To head for a place And forget who you are somewhere along the way But we can’t go home again I guess we had fun I guess we had something back when we were young It’s hard to believe The future looked bright back when we were naive But we can’t go home again I used to have faith It’s hard to believe