Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River

Packed and all eyes turned in

No one to see on the quay no one waving

For me just the shoreline receding

Ticket in my hand, I’m thinking «wish I didn’t hand it in»

Cause who said sailing is fine?

Leaving behind all the faces that I might

Replace if I tried on that long ride

Looking deep inside but I don’t want to look so deep inside yet

Sit down, sit down on the prow to wave bye

There might not be another star further on the line

Look out, look out at each town that glides by

And there’s another crowd to drown in crying eyes

And see how that light you love now just won’t shine

There might just be another star that’s high and far in some other sky

We sing, «Is that marionette

Real enough yet to step off of that set

To decide what her hands might be doing?

Ruining the play, to in the ensuing melee escape»

We packed up all of our bags

The ship’s deck now sags from the weight of our tracks

As we pace beneath flags black and battered

Rattling our swords in service of some faded foreign lord

We sail out on orders from him but we find

The maps he sent to us don’t mention lost coastlines

Where nothing we’ve actually seen has been mapped or outlined

And we don’t recognize the names upon these signs

And every night finds us rocking and rolling on waves wild and wide

Well, we have lost our way, nobody’s going to say it outright

Just go la la la la la la la la la

Oh, la la la la la la la la la la la

Oh, oh, oh

La la la la la la

La la la la la

La la la la la la