Afterthought - Conor Oberst

I woke up this mornin' still wearin' that tie

The one with the hammer and sickle design

Threw up all the pills my doctor prescribed

And went out to fetch me some air

The streets were so crowded with billboards and signs

Food trucks double parked in their parallel lines

I thought about breakfast but settled on wine

Always choose hunger over despair

And what’s possible over what’s there

But it isn’t as though we get what we want

No matter how hard or long we have fought

Oh my happiness is a mere afterthought

When I’m with her, I keep it in mind

Then she leaves and I’ve run out of time

I sat down today in a high barber’s chair

To hear the town gossip and clean up my hair

He said she was seen on the bus station stairs

With her suitcase threatenin' to walk

Not sure how true it was but I’ll hazard a guess

It’s probably not more and it’s probably not less

If that college kid bookie was accepting bets

The brackets would mostly be chalk

Yeah it’s safe to assume that she’s lost

But it isn’t as though we get what we want

No matter how hard or long we have fought

Oh my happiness is a mere afterthought

When I’m with her, I keep it in mind

Then she’s gone and I’ve run out of time

I can’t be concerned with the state that I’m in

At the height of the scandal with vertigo spins

Take every audition till I’m Errol Flynn

And bring it to life off the page

And I’ll get up tomorrow still wearin' that tie

The one with the skull and the cross-bone designs

If I’m asked if I miss her, it’s easy to lie

In this world that’s called more of the same

Yeah I wouldn’t feel proud or ashamed

'Cause it isn’t as though we get what we want

No matter how hard or long we have fought

Oh my happiness is a mere afterthought

When I’m with her, I keep it in mind

Then she leaves and I’ve run out of time