One, two, three, four!
 I was kidnapped real young by the sweet taste of love
 Built a fondness for things that just weren't good enough
 I cradled the crow, always shooed off the dove
 Which tagged me a naïve son 
 So the fortunate kids, yeah they left on their lights
 And they stuck up their noses and started some fights
 Their parents all cackled at dirt on my hands
 While my father was slaving, my mother explained it
 Sometimes that's just how it is
 So my sister went kissing a maple-skinned boy
 Finally held up her fists, said "I'm done being coy!"
 And the neighbourhood, bored, started buzzing with joy
 We finally had front-page news
 Although it was sad, I couldn't help but laugh
 Such ridiculous hate in the hot summer sweat
 I laid on my back, let the punk record spin
 The sloppy guitar, it was shooting out stars
 It all went to my heart, yeah some rainbows in the dark
 So I called up danger, my friends and some strangers
 They stumbled and wavered, but caught me a saviour
 They slipped me the blood in the whole of the vial
 But I didn't feel them change
 Then I met a man with a fist for a hand
 Held me flat on my back, taught me how to give in
 Some phrases were shot, pretty roses got tossed
 The gift of a fat-lipped grin
 Now they're drilling my teeth while I'm soiling sheets
 With my lover, she's counting the diamonds on rings
 And even when truth doesn't help with the sting
 Out of no numbers, some harsh looking colour
 You pull them out, feel they're changed
 No need for a thousand cranes
 So I thank the city, the lights that it's spinning
 The friends that I have and the shoes we’re not shining
 The drunk horn’s so violent, all spinning out sounds
 But the colour’s so vibrant , the colour’s so loud
 The newly-born crying realizing what life is
 The eyes of my grandfather right before dying
 The see-saw of all, its rickety bounce
 The feeling of coming, the feeling of going
 The mother, the child, the tame and the wild
 The sleeping in minor, the gold leaf, the tire
 The crooked, the straight, all the hip and the fake
 Oh, I'm finally feeling the stitching of beautiful seams
 Sometimes you just can't hold back the river
 Sometimes you just can't hold back the river
 Sometimes you just can't hold back the river
 Sometimes you just can't hold back the river
 Hold back the river, hold back the river, hold back the river