Matador Records - The Ballad of the Costa Concordia lyrics

[Verse 1] I used to like the mornings I'd survived another night I'd walk to breakfast through the garden See the flowers stretching in the sunlight Now I wake up in the mornings And all the kindness is drained out of me I spend hours just wincing And trying to regain some sense of peace [Chorus] If only I could sustain my anger Feel it grow stronger and stronger It sharpens to a point and sheds my skin Shakes off the weight of my sins And takes me to heaven [Verse 2] I stay up late every night Out of some general protest But with no one to tell you to come to bed It's not really a contest Maybe you think I'll learn from my mistake But not this time It's just gonna break me [Chorus] If only I could sustain my anger Feel it grow stronger and stronger It sharpens to a point and sheds my skin Shakes off the weight of my sins And takes me to heaven [Bridge] And if I've lost you for good Could it have been any other way? Was the water filling up for years Or did I wreck it all in a day? I'm going to bed now I've sunk into my sorrows And it'll take three hundred million dollars To get me up tomorrow I won't go down with this sh** I will put my hands up and surrender There will be no more flags above my door I have lost, and always will be [Breakdown] It was an expensive mistake It was an expensive mistake My horse broke his back to get me here I have his blood on my hands for no reason But what was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to know how to use a tube amp? How was I supposed to know how to drive a van? How was I supposed to know how to ride a bike without hurting myself? How was I supposed to know how to make dinner for myself? How was I supposed to know how to hold a job? How was I supposed to remember to grab my backpack after I set it down to play basketball? How was I supposed to know how to not get drunk every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and — why not — Sunday? How was I supposed to know how steer this ship? How the hell was I supposed to steer this ship? It was an expensive mistake You can't say you're sorry and it's over I was given a body that is falling apart My house is falling apart And I was given a mind that can't control itself And I was given a ship that can't steer itself And what about the pain I'm in right now? And what about a vacation? And what about a vacation to feel good? My horse broke his back and left me here How was I supposed to know? And God won't forgive me And you won't forgive me Not unless I open up my heart And how am I supposed to do that When I go to this same room every night And sleep in the same bed every night? The same f**ing bed Red comforter with the white stripes And the yellow ceiling light makes me feel like I'm dying This sea is too familiar How many nights have I drowned here? How many times have I drowned? [Chorus] I give up [Verse 3] Let us take you back to where we came in We were united, an undivided nation We got divided, it was something inside us And it was not us We were so naive, we were just like animals Told what to believe by the beasts who took control We wanted control too, but that was normal Cause our life was one of survival The decisions we've made, if you can call it deciding With your life on the line, it'd be social suicide to change your mind So we got mad and we split the scene Now we download all of our sh** for free It's the new economy, we have nothing to offer and we sleep on trash [Chorus] I give up [Verse 4] Let us take you back to where you came in A man clinging to the cliff of revelation So scared of what he would find, he started crying "It was not me" Stopped at the borderline they stripped his disguise So he read a book that won a Pulitzer prize It was about d**h It didn't help He saw himself in it And he was disturbed at the conclusions it led to But he couldn't say what because the author was dead too And so though he made fun of us, he has now become one of us [Chorus] I give up I give up I give up I give up I give up [Outro] And you wake up trembling From a dream where I swam into the river I reach out and hold you in my arms I love you, I love you, I love you