People Who Aren’t There Anymore Album Lyrics by Future Islands

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King of Sweden

I was on the F train
Thinking 'bout a holiday
I was on the M1
Dreaming 'bout my getaway

Rest right, reset
In-flight headset
Feeling like I'm fifteen
Wandering with the misfits
And all went silent
Purples, violets
The kind of cursive quiet
One with the starry eyelids
A sweet unsweetened
An eve uneven
The lights trailed like incense
To the figure in the distance

You are all I need
Nothing said could change a thing
Where you go, I go, just say, I'll be
'Cause you are all I need

I met the King of Sweden
When I was walking in the headlights
Drowning in a bender
Frozen in a red light
I'm always flying
So I'm always crying
Losing my emotion
On a desert island
Looked just like heaven
Seven alligator seven
Spoke to the reverend
Still filled me with depression
Slept right in tents
The moon was low and incensed
Was it the sun on the horizon?
It lit the figure in the distance

You are all I need
Nothing said could change a thing
Where you go, I go, just say, I'll be
'Cause you are all I need
And you are all I need
Oh, you are all I need

So much more
That means so much more

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The Tower

Threw a bottle across the water
To someone who's thinking of me
There's a tower in the ocean
Pouring through me
That's my will and testament

I, I, I am waiting on the other side, sigh
Looked out into everything and I lie, lie
Tell myself it's nothing, when it's quite right
Everything grows stronger in the light

When a boy who played with razors
Met a girl who opened cages
All the birds flew through the graveyard
And their laughter was contagious

I, I, I am watching on the other side, sigh
Looked out into every nil and nigh
Lie, tell myself it's darkest when it's quite bright
Everything grows stronger in her light
In the light, in the light, in the light

Standing at the sea and swallowing
Without you, beside you
But you knew what I knew

I, I, I am waiting on the other side, sigh
Looked out into everything and I lie
Tell myself it's nothing, when it's quite right
Everything grows, everything grows

I, I, I am watching, I am waiting
I, I, I am waiting, I'm not breaking
I lie, tell myself it's okay, when it's not quite
Everything grows stronger in the light

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Deep In the Night

Deep in the night
You know I miss you more when I'm stuck inside
This room without you and you're still asleep
I'm like a prowling lion that's seeking pride
When the morning finds you

I belong to you
I belong to you
When you take my hand I understand where you end
And that's where I began

Deep in the night
You know I hear your voice when I cut the lights
And I see you there and you're sound asleep
And it's the only time when I find peace
When this ends I'll find you

I belong to you, it's true
I belong to you
When you take my hand I understand where you end
That's where I began
And all it took, one walk with you
And I knew that I belong to you

I belong
I belong, I belong to you

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Say Goodbye

After we say, "Goodnight"
I smoke another twenty cigarettes
Before I close my eyes
If I'm up past midnight
Might have a chance to say, "Good morning"
Right before I cut the light
When I wake up at dawn
I reach across the void, just hoping
We can share a moment's time
And then the evening's mine
And I can finally say, "I love you"
Right before I say, "Goodnight"

Oh why, oh why
Do I even try?

When I don't wanna say goodnight
And every day without you feels one closer to goodbye
I just need to make this world seem right
You just sleep tight 'til I'm on your side
Know you need to go to sleep
There's comfort knowing that at least you can escape this heat
I'll sit up and watch this world burn bright
I'll be alright
When you're on my time

They didn't change the date
That's another month to wait
It's another month to try
To hold on to a lie

Oh why, oh why (oh why, oh why)
Do I even try?
Every other girl
We'd just cut the line

But I don't wanna say goodnight
Is every day without you feels one closer to goodbye?
I just need to make this world seem right
You can sleep tight 'til I'm on your side
When you finally go to sleep
There's comfort knowing that
At least you can escape this heat
I'll sit up and watch, this world's on fire
I'll be alright
When you're on my time

You're on my time
When you're on my time
When you're on my time
You're on my time
You're on my time
You're on my time
You're on my time
Whoa, you're on my time
Whoa, you're on my time
Oh, you're on my time
You're on my time
I'll be alright
When you're on my time

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Give Me the Ghost Back

I'm just an animal that strains against my line
I push and pull the cord, to make me feel alive
I had to fight to wrest the reins back on my life
Here come the stars again
Here come those scars again

How quickly we become the things that we despise
I talked her out of it, another lost the child
So many questions, stalking through me, day and night
Give me the ghost back
Give me the ghost back

What goes when I relinquish sin?
What's that beating in?
What goes when I face who I've been?
It's that old grief again

Oh, terror is a long dark night
Half-awake with the ones who died, the ones who tried
To say goodbye to that cold white light
Face to face but we have to try
To face the night

Two hundred million feel they're underneath a knife
A million others, can't forget what we can't hide
Saw one friend overdose, another took his life
Give me the ghost back
Give me my ghost back

Terror is a long sharp knife
Regret and fear have an appetite, appetite
So say goodbye to that old white knight
No fairytale ending for my night
Just death and life

Say goodbye to that cold white light, goodbye
Say goodbye to that cold white light
Goodbye, to the ones who tried to face the night

Here come the stars again
Here come the stars again

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Corner of My Eye

I once had a friend
And we had a home
'Til they asked me to turn back
Sometimes life is just like that
And there, in the city
Overlooking the sea
I found peace, but can't go back
Isn't it so sad?

How on the darkest nights
It all can leave you in the blink of an eye
And on the palest moon
I still see you running into white

Another quiet night
Back in my old city
The same old silent street
That doesn't know pity
For all that's trembling in me
And for my friend, I still grieve
The memory, forgetting
The pain's never ending
But I'm forgiving, at least
In loss, you're better off, move on
Can't take away what you gave me
'Cause in a real way, you saved me

And on the darkest nights
I still see you in the corner of my eye
The corner of my eye
And on the palest moon
Oh, I still see you running into the white
Into the white

And I have to say, thank you, thank you
For being there for me for so long
So I'll just thank you
'Cause I can't take you
Or make you, I just have to move on
It's perfect, so it's done

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The Thief

I never had a place to call my own
And slept so many nights out all alone
I spent so many hours slowly breaking in
And finally found someone who'd let me in
But if I said too much, please let me know
It wouldn't be the first time I've been told
I got this darkened tongue from this bitter cold
Needed a little light to follow home

I'd tip-toe past the lights, I'd hit the glow
Another silent night, found no one home
This bric-a-brac has life that someone knows
A pitter-pat, of life, that I've been shown

So I sit on my hands now
Sit on my hands now, sit on my hands now
When you leave
I sit on my hands now
Sit on my hands now, sit on my hands
A little thief

I know, I've been gone
I've been here all along
Hidden in the things you keep
Treasures that you went and buried deep

But if I said too much, please let me know
It wouldn't be the first time I've been told
I got this darkened tongue from this bitter cold
Needed a little light to follow home
I couldn't count the windows, open doors
Footprints through the garden, across muddy floors
Another pack of Newports, credit cards
The things left from a childhood, wanting more

So I sit on my hands now
Sit on my hands now, sit on my hands now
When you leave
I sit on my hands now
Sit on my hands now, sit on my hands
A little thief

I know I was gone
I was here all along
Hidden in the things you keep
Treasures that you went and buried deep in the drawer

I know, I've been wrong
But I was barely holding on
Hidden in the things you keep
Treasures now forbidden, buried deep in the drawer

Gave you my life, gave you my heart
Gave you my soul deep in the dark
When I saw your light, I knew I was home
But I'm all alone now

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Iris

Irises grow where they buried anger
I've always held them sacred
Now, a dangerous truth
If I can't cut the root
I'll always feel I have to prove
That I can hold these grudges for the others
So they'll love me too

But if the seeds are rotten, are we the rotten fruit?
The damage stretching limb to root
Finally bit off more than I can chew

'Round the high holidays
Surrounded by all we love, we erase
Become what we've tried to change
Since a child can't choose their name
Those cracks in the walls
Surrounding all that we love and embrace
Since a child we've been made to choose
Can we break this chain
And still hold on too?

'Cause if leaves are lying, are we not lying too?
The problem stretching limb to root
Finally bit off more than I can chew
Now I can't chew

When do we work on you?
How it just works on you
And it just works on you
How it just works on you

But if the trees are dying, are we not dying too?
The damage stretching limb to root
Can we break the chain, begin to chew? Begin to choose?
'Cause if the seeds are rotting, are we not rotting too?
And if the leaves are lying, are we not lying too?
And if the trees are dying, are we not dying too?

Are we not dying too? Are we not dying too?
We're not dying too, we're not dying too

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The Fight

It wasn't all a scream
We packed away the dream
And pocketed the loss
In a world without a little bit of doubt
Are we just the cost?
I couldn't stand the rain, so I ran away
And all I found was snow

Now I'm back on my own
Another winter in a shadow, in shadow
Can I do it alone?
Now I'm back in my cell
Back with myself
Waiting on the phone

But I will, I will keep fighting
I won't fade away
I will face every day
As if it's my last one
And I will keep you safe
Just like our past was
Fight for love every day

The day I went away
From everything I chose
To everything I own
It was the day I lost
It wasn't only you
Or the springing well of youth
But the certainty of love

Now I'm back on my own
Another winter in a shadow
Just me and my shadow
Can I do it alone?
Now I'm back in my cell
Back in my shell
But I'm backing myself

'Cause I will, I will keep fighting
I won't fade away
I will face every day
As if it's the last one
And I will keep you close
Just like our past was
Fight for love every day
'Cause this could be my last one

This could be my last one
It could be my last one
This could be my last one
So I will keep fighting
I will keep fighting
I'll keep on fighting
And I'll fight every day

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Peach

Love is the reason I'm still holding ground
Life isn't perfect parties and perfect sounds
Death is in season, it's pushing me 'round
And 'round and 'round
A bottle cap, a rusted crown

When one pushes up, the other pulls me down
And I don't know if I'll get out, if I'll get out
One pushes up, the other pulls me down
And I don't know if I'll get out, if I'll get out

This one makes you big in a cruel world
This one makes you small in a lonely world
This one takes it all away, all the pain
But I'm not giving up
Not today, not today

There's life in this tunnel, we're just hanging around
Please, if you see my hand, just pull me out
'Cause there's death in this tunnel
Still hanging on me, still begging on me

'Cause when one pushes up, the other pulls me down
And I don't know if I'll get out, if I'll be found

This one makes you big, what a cruel world
This one makes you small, feel that lonely world
This one takes it all the way, but I'll stay
'Cause I won't give you up
Not today, I won't
I won't give you up

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The Sickness

We had it all
We had a way of speaking, all to us
We had a way of being in love
It was the only thing I knew for sure
And now, everything's a mystery

The sickness came in like a freight train
And swept us up into small towns
The curfews pushed us to sundown
And we were caught in two places

I, I had to watch it fall apart from here
You had to watch it disappear
And now, no matter what we say or do, it's clear
Our wilderness, now sober

A newness on the land
A wetness indebted to all these tears
And the hardest part, pretending nothing's wrong
When we were fading deep into ourselves
But loving you always allayed my fear, it's clear
I can't release this feeling

The sickness came in like a freight train
And swept us up into small towns
The sadness pushed us to run down
And our love died in two places

I, I had to watch it fall apart from here
You had to watch it disappear and die
I was no comfort close to hold you, dear
Outside, the virus, still blooming

And all that pressure lies and builds
'Til we submit to the enemy inside

Would you lie? Would you lie? Would you lie?
Tell me everything's alright
Would you lie? Would you lie? Would you lie?
But you never lied to me
Would you lie this time?

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The Garden Wheel

Now every stone has a face
Every leaf, there's a bead of sweat
That drops it's embrace the day that I left
The day that we met, a story you loved
And life isn't mine
For a time, it was mine

At peace, in the place where we slept
Without anger, without language, lately
But now it's rising in me like a fiend and I feed
At least, I feel what I need, isn't proof
But some truth of the story, maybe

Of how we worked to till the soil
Until the labor all but spoiled
How we worked the earth so much it turned to dust

How am I supposed to feel?
When the robins steal from the cardinals in the garden
Turn the autumn wheel
It's how we're supposed to feel
When the onions peel
And the harvest was the hardest in the garden

I dream of the roads that we'd weave in the winter
Through fields, all covered in stones
That would dance when the night came calling
And the quarry of things and the ring
That went laughing down there
Was it the first missing thing, that we'll never see?
Until they find him

And how I searched upon the shore
Until my knees were red and sore
Because I feared the rest of us would start to rust

How am I supposed to feel?
When the robins steal from the cardinals in the garden
Turn the autumn wheel
It's how it's supposed to feel
When the onions peel
'Cause the harvest was the hardest in the garden