The Antlers Album

Completely awake in the back of the car
I don't drift anymore
All's come into place
And I unlock the door
If you have to warm up you can go back inside
But I'm not gonna follow forward
I've come to prefer
Sleeping outdoors

Upstairs and downstairs
And outside on the roof
Small stars and steel bars
Say the ghosts up in the attic tell the truth

Standing on shingles at night
Can't you see that there's a reason?
The plans aren't on the ground
They're high and hanging down
Well once I remember the words
We can climb down from the rooftop
I swear that I heard it right here
Invasively clear

But I was upstairs and downstairs
And outside on the roof
Small stars and steel bars
Say the ghosts up in the attic tell the truth

[No lyrics]

Stuck to a growing black balloon
My neighbors are slowly glowing maroon
Don't throw away my broken telescopes
Who has dragged you away? Who's that carrying the rope?

[No lyrics]

It's been a long time coming
It's not up for debate
You've been a hollowed-out apple
Though you're standing up straight
It's later than you think
And we're not gonna wait
If you continue to tell us if you continue to tell us
"The universe is going to catch you"

Well it was fine until you fell off
Of the face of the Earth
'Cause we would call you at home
And noone picked up the phone
But we were worried that you'd fallen
In the river, or worse
But then you sent us back a letter it said in capital letters
"THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO CATCH YOU"

Come back inside
To this house
To your home
Made of steel-structured styrofoam
Nobody's out there
But someone is singing you back to your birthplace
That voice is the same voice
You heard on the same night that
Everything glowed
Took you into the air
And the arms of the Universe
Kept you from falling
But after that happened
Those arms did not come back
So when you leapt up
And nobody caught you
Your neck broke

[No lyrics]

It got cold in the snow
And I just want to go home
I thought the stars were inside
I kept them hidden, I tried

But they kept screaming for release
They picked me up off of my feet
And brought me up through solid peace
And told me "You can't stay for long"

I woke up without arms
I stood up without arms
I couldn't walk in direction
With all this static reflection

I was lost inside a map
That I had written in a nap
When I heard a voice where branches snap
I followed it home

I decided on that evening
That I was through with sitting still
I stood up and started moving
With a childlike fascination
For those doors that don't have locks
And the stairways that were blocked
So I dug through the obstruction
Put my fist around the railing
And each step was far apart
And far away from steps before it
And the air was getting thinner
Until I couldn't breathe at all
And if I happened to look behind me
There were miles and miles of stairs
Enough so I couldn't see the doorway
But I knew that it was there
And on the last step I was dizzy
Because there were stairs in all directions
But I found another door
And through the door there was the attic
Without old clothes
Without a ceiling
Everything had opened wide
Into the jaws of something bigger
And suddenly I saw that I was
Upstairs and outside and freezing on the roof
Finally it had found me
The answer, the feeling, and the truth:

That I'm small
That I'm small
That I'm small
I'm smaller than the smallest fireball