American Dream Trajectory

Between sips you say: There's nothing heroic about
Growing up like you did, surviving somehow
I held you at seventeen
Baby, you haven't changed a bit
Still wearing a face of steel, still feeling all of it

When I think of your dad, yeah, it chokes me up
And I wasn't the one going through all of that stuff
Are you there right now?
That sixty-degree summer you spent out west
Flipped your car, broke your heart, resurrected a friend
Are you there right now?

You called it February whiplash
When the power goes out, it don't come back
So your eyes adjust to living in the dark
Your eyes give up on seeing who you are
Headstrong, anxious, and healing slow
You're paying your debts, clawing back control
You'd like to love somebody to a fault
You'd like to feel like you deserve it all

When I think of us young, it makes me sick
I wake up wishing that we were together when we were kids
Are you there right now?
The fatal flaws of the people that you have needed to breathe
Destroying your American dreams, rejecting me
Are you there right now?

Oh-oh, we don't gotta talk about before
Oh-oh, we don't gotta talk about before
Oh-oh, we don't gotta talk about before
Oh-oh, we don't gotta talk about before

Though we'll have to stop our running while we're stunted and afraid
Taking stock of what we've lost, there's so much life that remains
Are you there right now?
The fatal flaws of the people that we don't gotta be
Destroying your American dreams, rejecting me
Are you there right now?