Kevin Devine
"Just Stay"

I found my fickle friend
out in the alley way
He said, You don't look so good.
I said, Hey doc, that's great.
You started practicing?
I never got the note.
So let's shake and trade
and be on our way.
Let's go, go, go.

So here we are again,
inside your neon shrine,
sharing a chopping block
beneath embarassed light
that tries to hide from us
it tucks itself away.
So we both grab hold
and say no you don't.
Just stay, just stay.

And I'm racing towards
the one mistake
that locks me in my place.
The judgement call
that justifies the smirk stuck on my face.
My crooked life scared straight and stiff
by the last wrong turn I'll take.
But I'm not there yet so come purr, my pet.
Let's play, let's play.

The morning's hot and harsh,
my notebook fills itself.
The words come thick with sweat,
it feels like someone else
is writing all of this,
someone I just can't believe.
when I mop my brow,
set my pen back down,
it's still me, still me.

And I'm grabbing at a feeling now
that I can't ever name.
Some sign post to remind me
how I wanted things this way.

And she said, it's pretty
but you hate yourself,
I can hear it clear as day.
And I say, a sin like this,
it sounds worse than it is.
I'm okay, okay.
I'm okay, okay.
Just stay, just stay.