Moving into optimism Can't touch my cold border sad She fell asleep before the television Me and the TV are insomniacs We both know this can't last We both know this can't last Beware of people who carry grudges They've got Atlas' shoulders and his patience Clara pours my coffee on the weekend And never burns even when she misses She keeps my stories in her apron And her beauty soaks through those plot twists We both know they can't last As I walk in out the door I see her tip jar's full of wrinkled Washingtons My streets are like battle floors And they say God bless America's recyclables God damn China's reproduction If your heart goes out to dying people Whose heart stays home with the living ones And I know all about this country And I know it can't last I get dizzy watching the news on my TV They say I just get up too fast And my grandmother died applying her makeup So they just covered up her face Sometimes I'm crying when I wake up I have this dream I'm being chased And I should have known she wouldn't last And I should have been there by her bed Tonight I caught myself considering heaven Because today I realized she is dead And I know I can't last