And when you said you were through With howling at the moon I knew it wasn't true I knew you'd end up back On that same old track You could never change your tune You could never change your act And after all this time You could stall the beat of my heart And after all this time If it's only you that I want It was the wrong time and place But you stayed there just in case In case everything changed When you mustered up the strength To keep me at arm's length You were sowing the seeds of regret You were spitting in the face of death And after all this time You could stall the beat of my heart And after all this time If it's only you that I want The tears come easy now That I've clawed my way back out Of the hell I tripped into Yes the years have done their work Hearing faint and vision blurred Still I recognize you Still your love feels new And after all this time You could stall the beat of my heart And after all this time If it's only you that I want And after all this time You could stall the beat of my heart And after all this time If it's only you that I want

I know why you feel the way that you do We've shared a ceiling and we've worn each other's shoes You know you've done nothing wrong but you should Cause it's killing me to be leaving someone so damn good But I'm not saying sorry When I've got nothing to be sorry for I won't be held responsible For the pain in your eyes when I walk out the door When I met you you were too cool for school I was unusual but you couldn't have called me cruel We were a pair of overconfident lovers Saying no matter what we would always come back to each other But it didn't work out that way, we drifted onto different paths Can't you see that to stay with me would be holding yourself back So I'm not saying sorry For giving you the room you need to grow I think deep down you want that And I'm gonna prove my love by letting go You've been mine and I've been yours long enough We'll sign the paperwork, we'll separate our stuff Then you and I will live our lives far apart And you will find love that patches the holes in your heart And I will change into my next self cavalier and unforgiven Part of me might always wonder if I made the right decision But I'm not saying sorry Doesn't love mean I never have to I must keep moving onward I can't be looking over my shoulder at you I'm not saying sorry For the way you choose to react to the steps I take Don't tell me it's my fault That you put your heart in my hands when you knew it could break

I'm having trouble telling if our love is real The way it's supposed to be I am kissing you but it doesn't feel Like you're kissing me We're no strangers darling, we've been going steady But there's this look in your eyes Did you fall out of love and just forget to tell me You're so silly sometimes Are you serious about this Cause I'm not young anymore When things get tough will you persist Cause if not there's the door You keep canceling dates but not til the last minute Your homework's tying you down I'm a patient guy but even I have my limits I can't keep waiting around I try and tell myself that you're just really busy And it'll be better someday But deep down I think I know that you don't even miss me And I'm too old for this game Are you serious about me Or am I just one of your options Will I be your one and only Or is your heart up for auction It's a shame to see you go, we sure have had our moments But when a dog's had her day She's gotta be put down, darling you should've known this Would have to end up this way You don't seem too broke up, you barely seem affected You're probably doing just fine I guess I don't know what else I should have expected You were never the sentimental kind Are you serious about anything Or do my words go right through you Will you direct your own destiny Or will life just happen to you

Twenty-two and just out of college Paying rent on an apartment where I didn't eat or sleep Cause I was sleeping with you every afternoon And staying up all night over a tray of crab rangoons And yeah the sex was great But it was just one part of the heaven that was our love The sex was great But for some reason I keep thinking of Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer The core ingredients of our love affair It got complicated but when you peel back all the layers It was all about Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer What's my line and General Tso's chicken Splitting a sampler platter, rolling our eyes at this week's villain Then came lo mein and the dawn that nobody acknowledged The hours never mattered cause there was a deep spell upon us I thought I could do it alone But it only left me with a sick sensation inside I went it alone Just so God would know I tried Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer And both of those things were better when you were there It didn't work out because I thought I was some kind of player Now I'm dwelling on Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer And just like Buffy you were strong and feminine too And just like Angel I got jealous every time that Spike was in view And just like Xander and Willow you believed in me despite my issues And just like sweet and sour sauce you were sweet but not without some attitude And just like the first season you were hard to get into And just like a broken heart you were hard to get into And just like the music industry you were hard to get into And I lived that dream, I was there Yeah you loved me but I didn't care I let you go, how did I dare All I had to do was let that dream continue Seven years and I'm still thinking about you Time has weathered my skin but never my memory Other women have come and gone like the seasons Still I long for a chance to love you once more with feeling Yeah the sex was great I guess I'm paying the price for those moments of true happiness The sex was great Especially when afterward we'd order a plate Of Chinese food and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer No dinner and a movie combo compares With our show on TV and a cookie to be our soothsayer I hope my fortune tells of Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Oh God oh Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer And the girl I loved running her fingers through my hair I had some demons and unfortunately they betrayed her But I'll never forget Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer As long as I live Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer The simple pleasures of life that were made to be shared I wanna go back but God doesn't grant that kind of prayer So I'll just dream about Chinese food and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I don't have twenty-twenty vision There are some things I can't see I can't make out the details Until they're right up close to me And they're usually only there for a moment Til they fly right by and leave me behind Yeah hindsight is my eyesight And it's no better than being blind The color of the leaves in summer I can't say I really noticed I vaguely remember them Over your shoulder as we kissed But now I pore over every line As I push them into piles on the ground Yeah hindsight takes up a lot of my time Which I have more of now that you're not around Opportunity knocked One morning while I slept in I threw some ratty clothes on But it was far away by then I ran to the street looking every direction Calling for you in a desperate trance Yeah hindsight plays tricks on my mind Making me think I barely missed my chance When two roads lay before you Make your decision well And afterward never question What the other path may have held Heed my words you who travel behind me Do not do what I have done Cause hindsight isn't gonna fix my life But maybe I can warn someone

You sent me that letter after my book of poems that you bought finally came Furious that none of the words on any of the pages was your name Did I mean so little to you to not even deserve a mention Your guilt trip was expert level, yeah you still know how to get my attention I never hurt worse than dwelling on the many ways I did you wrong I was a reckless youth with a hunger to destroy You took all the romance out of being the subject of someone else's sad song I was never worth your tears, I was just a boy I visited your hometown, met your dog and your family You said you might move to Vegas, I think you would've done anything for me I was looking for a good time, you were looking for happily ever after Maybe it's true what they say and girls just mature that much faster But I knew all that going in and still went through with it I strung you along, I led you on and treated you like a toy I took you for granted cause I only wanted what I couldn't get God forgive me, I was just a boy I thought it better not to reply, I'd already put your heart through hell I didn't talk to you for years but I hoped you were doing well Now you've got a beautiful wife, I guess I should've seen that coming After your piece-of-shit dad and your ex I was one in a long line of good-for-nothings So I'm happy for you but I'm sorry too cause when you opened up your gate To me and gave me every chance to fill your life with joy When I had an opportunity to step up to the plate When the time came to be a man I was just a boy

Absolution come to me Drown my sins in your sweet mercy Absolution comfort me Tell me I still will be deemed worthy I've made mistakes small and large I won't defend them, I am guilty as charged But I have to believe that my soul can be saved That I don't have to finish this digging of my grave Absolution come to me Drown my sins in your sweet mercy Absolution comfort me Tell me I still will be deemed worthy Of a new beginning, a fresh restart A peaceful mind and an open heart I have changed for the better and this change will last I will prove to the world that I am not my past Absolution come to me Drown my sins in your sweet mercy Absolution comfort me Tell me I still will be deemed worthy Years of anguish over you Years of regret and desperation too Let me move on, let me walk in the light Let me atone, let me make things right Absolution come to me Drown my sins in your sweet mercy Absolution comfort me Tell me I still will be deemed worthy Absolution

Fourteen years old is too old to have your heart ripped out Cause you'll always remember it Cause by then you know how much it's gonna mean How much it's gonna change forever I was in a play The critics gave me raves But you said you saw right through me You knew me too well to take me seriously And that nearly drove me nuts You were the only one who said that What did you expect from me What could I have done differently Swimming at the YMCA Gazing at you with your shirt off And your tummy that looked so soft Candy necklace hanging down your chest Your hand is resting quite close to mine Saying come on the water's fine And now it's twenty years later And I have had a girlfriend or a few But I cry at night to my creator Cause I've never loved a woman Never loved a woman like I loved you Staring contest with the devil himself Did you know that he lives in my bathroom mirror And I don't know who I can tell Who would pull me out of hell Who could help me face this fear It's who I am inside It's what I'm gonna be For the rest of my life Yours eternally You trusted me with secrets I never told a soul So how's about you give me back the young man's heart you stole You were walking home with the cute redhead Who half the world had their eyes upon But that wasn't where mine were drawn Sleeping over at your best friend's house We can stay up and watch TV But we have to watch quietly And in that town I am still welcome But I wonder what they'd think if they knew Sometimes I wanna call them all and tell them That I've never loved a woman Never loved a woman like I loved you Oh honesty You're gonna be the death of me I could never approach you now Cause what on earth would I say The entire world around us changed And it's not gonna slow back down On the day you moved I was in denial I chased your car til you were gone That didn't take long Nothing came of it We didn't keep in touch I do the best I can not to think about you much But your name is on the tip of my tongue The consonants just Just light me up Do you want me to spell it out Whispering the words in each other's ears Watching it in my memory I am shocked at the intimacy And I don't know much about life But I can tell you something true I could never take a wife Cause I've never loved a woman Never loved a woman like I loved you

I was broken, I was distraught I was alone in the world, at least that's what I thought And I was sullen and I was sad Cause I had lost the only girl I'd ever had And suddenly I was Romeo writing her some poems Saying I was sorry begging her to come home I wish you could've seen it cause it seems crazy now What was that all about Me crying all day When you were on the way She said she loved me with all her heart And I said I love you too, that's why we're never gonna part And I believed it but I was wrong Because part with me she did and it didn't take her long But I was right about being in love, that's for sure Yes I was madly in love but it wasn't with her I had fallen for a fantasy I'd built in my mind Romance made me blind To the problems at play When you were on the way Now here in our house life is sublime And once in a while my thoughts drift to earlier times So I get out my old photographs You know they used to make me cry, now they make me laugh Cause I'm marveling at that miserable youth If I could tell him about you he wouldn't think it was the truth And if he makes me misty-eyed, darling please understand He made me who I am And what can I say I didn't know you were on the way

Now that you're living so far away You may think of me and wonder if I've changed I want you to rest assured I'm the same as ever, never mind what you've heard I'm still fucking up Oh ho, against all odds I have failed to learn anything I'm still fucking up Oh ho, still the asshole you used to know With the lack of empathy Some people are so untrustworthy You can't depend on them cause you never know who they'll be But I am constant, I am sound You can count on me to always let you down I'm still fucking up Oh ho, don't you worry I've got a lot more time to do more things wrong I'm still fucking up Oh ho, if you're waiting for me to make a mistake Then it won't be long And it's just like you always used to say I'm a glutton for punishment and I like it that way A junkie for sympathy, how your words made me cry Cause I knew they were true, it wasn't like you to lie So there you have it folks, that's my story It may sound sad to you but imagine how it feels for me It just goes to show you were on the right track You dodged a bullet when you left and never looked back Cause I'm still fucking up To this very day You can hear the self-pity and pain in my voice I'm still fucking up And every word I say And every step I take is a terrible choice I'm still fucking up Still on my bullshit A festering cesspool of sorrow and strife I'm still fucking up And I'm not gonna quit I am dedicated to my destructive life And it's wrong, yes I'm wrong Still wrong after all of these years I'm nothing but a hound a dog and a scoundrel And a clown drowning in my own tears

Riley you're understanding Riley you're sweet as pie Riley you look me in the eye Eye Eye Your suitor's not the fun kind Let's leave him in the lurch I'll tell you something you won't hear in church Hear in church Hear in church I long to be the one you Tell all your secrets to I wanna be the light in you You You You took such a long time coming home I just wasn't the same those hours alone Yeah it took such a long time calming down I feel better now that you're around You've got no business crying At midnight New Year's Eve I'll tell you something to believe Believe Believe Out there the system's crashing Out there the end is near But you and I are laughing here Here Here I hope where we are going They have a scenic route That's what my life was really all about All about All about You took such a long time coming home I just wasn't the same those hours alone Yeah it took such a long time calming down I feel better now that you're around The world's gonna end now Hope you had fun in it I'll tell you something at the last minute The last minute The last minute So Riley don't you worry No Riley never doubt You're what my world was really all about All about All about I long to be the one you Sing all your love songs to I wanna be the love in you You You

The squirrels were racing through the trees The birds were singing harmonies So sweet Cleaner than the morning dew Fell on my window pane A quiet rain Every drop sky blue I saw this all come true As I was thinking of you As I was thinking of you I took a drop around the block I had my Walkman on As I passed by the duck pond As I was thinking of you I heard a song I hadn’t heard in many years It fell new upon my ears And for the first time its meaning was clear I called you for a date When we were young and too afraid to Say what we yearned to say I blame myself because I failed to Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I’m sleeping in my bed tonight I haven’t been for seven days Left my toothbrush at your place If I get cavities I’m blaming all those squirrels in the trees And butterflies on the breeze And my newfound taste for cheesy clichés And bonehead stupid wordplay These things I never say To anybody but you Bring out the parts of me that I hide You’ve seen who I really am inside I think I’m in way over my head Stop time I don’t wanna to go to work yet I hope you remember how beautiful you are Your body and your spirit and your mind I hope you understand how deep I fell for you How hard a person like you is to find You should never hide your scars You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of I will treasure those parts of you And the slow way they became love Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop time I’m not ready to go to work yet Stop life I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop life I don’t wanna go to work yet Stop life I’m not ready to shed this skin yet Stop life I don’t want to close these eyes