HESITANT ELEGY (2007)
(v1)
The guy stood on the ledge a good twelve stories up
The sky was blue and refreshing
Pigeons circled by and gave him a nod
To say that things weren’t that depressing
It was a beautiful day
And I thought what a cliché
But you know it’s a cliché I’ve never actually seen
(v2)
And I wondered if his parents divorced when he was young
Or if his girlfriend had dumped him
Or if he borrowed money from organized crime
Though that was a wild assumption
We stood in anticipation
An impromptu congregation
Wondering how much longer the service would go on
(bridge)
Cars crash on the highway
People lose their homes
Hearts break every minute
People die alone
(v3)
I didn’t go to art school, and my new cell phone sucks
I’m hoping today I’ll get fired
Maybe I’ll call her and ask her to come back
If I’m feeling any sort of inspired
The curb looked like a ledge
My toes felt out the edge
And I was hoping he’d go ahead and jump so I didn’t have to
©2007 Z. Mulls
This lyric is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as part of the collection THE COLLECTED LYRICS OF Z. MULLS Volume Two 2007
I had been listening to The Mountain Goats’ album and trying to capture their style. This lyric has a soft shift at the end, when the singer’s ennui takes over, and his subjective angst is more real than the real anguish the man on the ledge is facing.
