I spend my hours doing alchemy I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green Prosaic practice of depravity Suspending innocents above their disbelief I wish that I could paint a pretty picture onto everything And leave a mark upon the world that felt like anything But maybe that's the essence of an artist and their legacy Just chasing down a sense of infamy Put brush to canvas with a pirouette A simple motion makes the consequence intricate All the little nothings and my parapet I hope it's something that you don't forget Cadmium red is the ground beneath Cadmium orange, everything I see Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe Cadmium colors painted inside me I can make autumn from a single leaf Steal a fine picture like a first class thief Make the water work like you won't believe Find a new world that can set you free How could anybody ever live like me I spend my hours doing alchemy I make a life refining zinc inside the smeltery It's not exactly where I want to be But wanting doesn't matter when there's mouths to feed I wish that I could paint a pretty picture of a fantasy And turn a feeling to a living for my family Instead I make the metals in the pigments in my reverie And maybe that can be enough for me Oh, isn't it funny facing destiny It's like a knife inside twisting my arteries God, I want for nothing but identity I think that something might be wrong with me Cadmium red is the ground beneath Cadmium orange, everything I see Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe Cadmium colors painted inside me Antegrade fever, 101 degrees Shatter my body with a gentle breeze Dammit, I am real and I have my dreams Watch me burn brighter till I fail to breathe How could anybody ever live like me Baby, do you know what it's like to die To see the sparkle fade from inside your eye I can't remember what it's like to feel autonomy Can't even feel it in the moments that you left to me I don't wanna leave with a work undone The paint can barely dry 'fore it fills my lungs I keep a bullet in the chamber, mocking me But I don't wanna feel it coming out of me I don't want— I spend my hours doing alchemy I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green Chasing impossible philosophy And hoping that this poison ain't the death of me Cadmium red is the ground beneath Cadmium orange, everything I see Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe Cadmium colors painted inside me I can make autumn from a single leaf Steal a fine picture like a first class thief Make the water work like you won't believe Find a new world that can set you free How could anybody ever live like Baby, do you know what you wanna hear Cause you can say the word, make it oh so clear We're all just searching for a sense of solidarity To hold each other close and confiscate our destiny No one wants to leave with a work undone We only need a brush we can pass along I kept a bullet in the chamber for a rainy day But what's the point in planning for it anyway I've got too many colors for a shade of grey And I can make it Autumn every single day