Oxygen

I burned all the love letters I had ever received
And I took the hot ashes and laid them at the cold queen's feet
But she didn't shed a tear at all
She just gave the order to raise a wall
To keep the lovers out and the others in
Then I was free to leave

Well I thought it was safe to turn around rest and relax
What with all those familiar faces piled up in the past
But with a trail so scorched and torn and poorly patched
There are holes that pull the precious into a collapse
If you stop to blink

So don't be surprised
If your memory dies
And your will simply fades
Like a marching parade
Dwindling down a dark street
Did your heart skip a beat
Or did time pass you by
While you were wiping the sand from your eye?

I thought you were going to follow me through these lonesome valleys
But now I'm facing scraping this stone wall all alone
And all the ghosts who once pursued me
And routinely abused me
They're no longer enthused enough
To do me any wrong
So it goes

I ran across a stranger who said he knew me when
He said "Last I heard you were in need of some oxygen
So tell me how can you hear the phone to say
That there ain't nobody home today
When you're drifting along the bottom of the ocean?"
I said "I'm afraid we've never met"

So don't be surprised
If your memory dies
And your will simply fades
Like a marching parade
Dwindling down a dark street
Did your heart skip a beat
Or did time pass you by
While you were wiping a tear from your eye?