Novel of a Broken Mind

I tore through the backstreets,

shoes worn to the seams

Yelling “somebody save me

That midnight preacher put a little too much dream in me”

Now I’m filling notebooks

Like nobody’s ever done before

First motel that I passed, I painted “HOME” across the door

Told the folks inside there they should probably disappear

“’Cause my version of the world runs louder than yours”

And the clocks quit moving

And the ceiling started to breathe

I walked out behind the house to burn my old blue jeans

But the smoke curled up and whispered

“You can’t outrun what you believe anymore”

Well, I ain’t no prophet, but the shadows might be right

And if they are, I’ll drag them with me every night

And I keep driving through the midnight light

Trying to find a place that feels like home

Every stranger got a story they defend

Every lost soul swears the ride won’t end

Ohhh, and the city sings me lullabies

Neon halos and Hollywood eyes

If I lose myself before the morning light

Just leave the radio on tonight

I drove down the coastline with a songwriter named Jean

She said, “If you wanna tell the truth

You gotta lose everything clean”

And I said, “forgive me

Now remind me what your name was again?”

Now every bar in California’s

Filled with people acting like they don’t notice the dancer

And the dancer wishing somebody did

We could disappear somewhere

Baby, if my hands weren’t full of these drinks

Something ’bout the way the blue lights hit your hair

Makes me spill all my secrets

Standing tall on the corner

Throwing cash around like I owned the city

I don’t really need nobody new, Mama

But I sure could use somewhere to go

And if you feel like riding sometime

I swear you’d never have to steal the show

And I keep driving through the midnight light

Trying to find a place that feels like home

Every stranger got a story they defend

Every lost soul swears the ride won’t end

Ohhh, and the city sings me lullabies

Neon halos and Hollywood eyes

If I lose myself before the morning light

Just leave the radio on tonight

And I keep driving through the midnight light

Trying to find a place that feels like home

Every stranger got a story they defend

Every lost soul swears the ride won’t end

Ohhh, and the city sings me lullabies

Neon halos and Hollywood eyes

If I lose myself before the morning light

Just leave the radio on tonight

Poets in the kitchen, drinking coffee black as ink

I could’ve sworn last night I fell asleep inside my car

Now everybody’s raising glasses over me

I never leave the canyon, no, I’m trapped on every side

By people chasing glory and surviving carnival rides