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Words from the artist’s archive
BLACK BARS lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
Raise your right hand, uh You swear to tell the whole truth? ...Somebody should
Verse 1
Lend me your ears - well, the one that's still whole, uh Mid-July put a part in the story, barber-close Ask the butler - in the movies it's always the butler, always crooks on a rooftop, take that however you want it Clean line of sight like somebody swept the schedule, swept Radios crackling - guess the hearing got postponed One good man in the bleachers never made it home, silence Then autumn, back nine, more than sand up in them traps, traps Ain't nobody holler fore - the secret was the service
Chorus
All they ever hand us is black bars, black bars So I hand 'em back bars over black bars, bars Read between the lines? The lines is marked out, marked out Cameras took a nap and the guards clocked out, clocked out Files catch fire but the smoke keep talking, talk Truth on a gurney while the case keep walking, walk Black bars, and still nobody behind 'em, nobody Answers in a box somewhere, good luck trying to find 'em
Verse 2
Somebody gained a function, the whole world lost a summer, lost Pinned it on a bat, checked the sky, ain't no signal, none Wet market got the headline, dry lab got a lawyer, uh Paper said proximal, the emails all said hold up, hold up Sent the arsonist to sniff around for smoke - case closed, closed Funny how the funding echoed... echoed... healthy though, echo Blew a whistle in a soundproof room, no encore, quiet They was watching who was watching who was watching, sure, watched Six feet was the guidance - apart or otherwise, either way
Chorus
All they ever hand us is black bars, black bars So I hand 'em back bars over black bars, bars Read between the lines? The lines is marked out, marked out Cameras took a nap and the guards clocked out, clocked out
Verse 3
Rewind to '63, the film keep looping, loop One bullet did gymnastics and the judges scored a ten, ten The lawn stay manicured, the knoll ain't never spoke, hush Sunlight's the best disinfectant, so they store it in the vault, vault '73 they hit the gym, whole cabinet got shredded, shredded Ultra was the program, handing out trips, no luggage, gone Minds got rearranged without a conversation, changed Word is boxes walked up out the office, no citation, walk Class stay in session but the files stay classified, stay Half the tale is ash, the other half is alphabetized, initials
Verse 4
Dropped it at the shop, came back a bad transmission, static Fifty-one pens wrote it Russian, or was they just rushin'? rushin' Couldn't even share the Post, lampposts got more traffic, hush Years later, authenticated, vintage - hindsight is a market Fifty-one though? Same area they garage the answers, five-one Pilots chasing Tic Tacs, breath mints doing ballet, fresh Skeletons ain't in the closet, go and check the hangar, check Raised right hands, said biologics, room turned to a chapel, quiet Black-budget slushie, one sip, instant brain freeze, freeze Compartments in compartments, glove box in a glove box, deep
Bridge
No man is an island... one man bought one anyway, anyway First-class manifest, frequent miles, no names, no names That night the cameras chose to dream, both guards did too, dream A cell can tell a story, that one never do, never They say there is no list... okay, okay Guess Santa keep the only one, at least he check it twice, twice Heavy names in ink so black the pages went to mourning, black Shield the small ones first, that's the only code worth holding
Chorus
All they ever hand us is black bars, black bars So I hand 'em back bars over black bars, bars Read between the lines? The lines is marked out, marked out Cameras took a nap and the guards clocked out, clocked out Files catch fire but the smoke keep talking, talk Truth on a gurney while the case keep walking, walk Black bars, and still nobody behind 'em, nobody Every page they paint tonight, the morning gonna find 'em
Outro
Raise your right hand..., raised The whole truth... someday, someday Till then I read between the black bars
Inside the recording
Raise your right hand, uh You swear to tell the whole truth?
All they ever hand us is black bars, black bars So I hand 'em back bars over black bars, bars
Raise your right hand..., raised The whole truth... someday, someday
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.