[Verse 1]
Yard sale sun
Cardboard sign on the leaning gate
Glass-eyed grin
Propped up in the dusty crate
“I’ll take him home”
I joked as I paid in change
Seller’s voice
“Don’t you ever say his name”
[Verse 2]
Stuck him in the corner
On my wobbly dresser shelf
Painted-on tux
Hands folded like he’s trying to help
Found that note
Torn and tucked beneath his shoe
Four short words
I was dumb enough to read them through
[Chorus]
Now the wooden smile is wider every night (so wide)
He just stares and stares till I kill the light
Every little accident
I know who pulled the string
But my family says it’s all in my head
While the walls crawl
Pictures fall
Dog runs and hides instead
Blame it on me
Never on the thing on my bed
[Verse 3]
Sister’s hair
Chopped clean in a crooked line
Scissors on my pillow
Like the crime was mine
Dad’s car rolls
Out the drive
Hits the mailbox hard
Keys in my backpack
Muddy tracks through the yard
[Pre-Chorus]
He laughs when they turn away (I hear it)
Teeth painted
Still they chatter my name
I point at his plastic hands
But they just pray
Say I’m to blame
[Chorus]
Now the wooden smile is wider every night (don’t blink)
He just stares and stares till I kill the light
Every little accident
I know who pulled the string
But my family says it’s all in my head
While the walls crawl
Pictures fall
Dog runs and hides instead
Blame it on me
Never on the thing on my bed
[Bridge]
[Guitars drop to eerie clean arpeggios]
I tried to burn him
But the matches died in my hand
Tried to drown him
He just laughed in the dishpan
He whispered
“You brought me
You spoke
So we’re tied” (so tied)
“If they never believe you
I get to stay inside”
[Chorus]
Now the wooden smile is wider every night (so wide)
He just stares and stares till I kill the light
Every little accident
I know who pulled the string
But my family says it’s all in my head
While the floor cracks
Clocks stop
Brother wakes up red
Blame it on me
Blame it on me
Never on the thing on my bed (wake up, wake up)