Written by Benjamin Gibbard as Death Cab for Cutie


There's nothing funny about just slipping away
It's nothing funny how you're spending your days
But you're laughing like a kid at a carnival
And I watched you stumbling around this dusty town
I heard your bottle talking way too loud
As the Federales tried to hunt you down
For something you can't remember what was about

The curtain falls to applause and the band plays you off, the band plays you off
He's a superhero growing bored with no one to save anymore

I used to watch you on the late night scene
The timely rescue of a metal teen
Six strings were strumming rhythm and lead
And that hadn't occurred to me
When I met you I was twenty-two
Trying so hard to play it cool
But there was so much that I needed to say
And nothing came out the right way

The curtain falls to applause and the band plays you off, the band plays you off
He's a superhero growing bored with no one to save anymore

There's nothing elegant in being a drunk
It's nothing righteous being sixty and a punk
But when you're looking in the mirror do you see
That kid that you used to be?
Broke and working in a record store
Daydreaming about the upcoming tour
Were you happier when you poor?
Were you happier when you poor?

The curtain falls to applause and the band plays you off, the band plays you off
He's a superhero growing bored with no one to save anymore