You eat or you get eaten; you jump or you get jumped
And behind the weary curtain is a loving whore called hope
She's rambunctious as a tiger, always tearing holes in things
Leaving hearts so wide and gaping, one is useless but to sing
Sing of love or of betrayal, doesn't matter, she is there
Behind every disappointment, behind every hook and snare
She'll embrace you for a moment, then she'll turn and kill the mood
With some heinous imposition, like "I thought you understood"
But you couldn't seek to hurt her, for she's gentle as a dove
She's within the every smile of the humans that you love
She is homesick but resilient; she is cunning as she's cruel
She'll remind you of your freedom as she's spelling out her rules
One: you eat or you get eaten, two: you jump or you get jumped
The deceiver and deceived are at the table talking shop
Just as Judas turns to Jesus, hope flies off the dirty scene
Saying "good luck sorting this one, I will see you in between"
How she's loved and how she's hated, but sought after all the same
I cave in and go a-knocking when I think that I'm to blame
For the lonely things that hearts do, when there's no way to explain
Why his love has dissipated, or goes by another name
We eat and we are eaten, jointly nourished and consumed
We are patient while we're able, later selfish and then cruel
We are helpless as a newborn and then hungry as a dog
And then wounded as a nightingale who never found her song
When I find I'm at the table with my brethren, talking shop
She's the wisest one among us, yes our kind, deceitful hope
Just as she brought us together, she must tear us now apart
With our dreams and our decisions, we are brought back to the start
You eat or you get eaten, as you jump or you get jumped
And behind that scarlet curtain is a loving whore called hope
She says "I am just a human, bound to fall towards anything
Much like you my heart is gaping, I am useless but to sing"