The Lumineers - III Album Lyrics

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Donna

It's not the words you say but how you say it
I saved the picture where your hair was braided
They found your wallet in the cemetery
You told your daughter she was ordinary

You hate the name Junior
Your husband loved his computers
Your mother never was one
The eldest of seven children

If you don't have it then you'll never give it
And I don't blame you for the way you livin'
The little boy was born in February
You couldn't sober up to hold a baby

You hate the name Donna
You love to judge strangers' karma
You drove from New Jersey
The trucks always made you worry

Hold my hand now, time to
Go to bed it's way too late

You hate the name Donna
You love to judge strangers' karma
You drove from New Jersey
The trucks always made you worry
You raised a saint, Donna
You love to judge strangers' karma
You're praying for a funeral
You're singing like Hallelujah

You're singing like Hallelujah
You're singing like Hallelujah
You're singing like Hallelujah
You're singing like Hallelujah

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Life In The City

Woo, woo
Woo, woo

And if the city's skyscrapers rise over this island
Would you be glad to see Manhattan for once?
I knew the dream, it died, JMZ line, Myrtle, and Broadway
But I'd be glad to see Manhattan for once

Woah woah, living life in the city
Woah woah, it will never be pretty, oh, oh
Woah woah, we can plan if we make it
Woah woah, we won't let 'em
They won't take it from me, no, oh, oh, woah (2, 3, 4)

Woo, woo
Woo, woo

And if you leave, don't leave me all alone
'Cause I'll be scared, I'll be naked, I'll get cold
And I miss my dad and Cleopatra sitting on a phone
So take me back off these streets and we'll never be apart
Together from the start
Never, never falling back alone

Living life in the city
Oh oh, it will never be pretty, oh, oh
Oh oh, we can plan if we make it
Woah woah, we won't let 'em
They won't take it from me, no, oh, oh, woah

And if the sun don't shine on me today
And if the subways flood and bridges break
Will you just lay down and dig your grave?
Or will you rail against your dying day?

Da da da da, da, da, da ah da
Da da da da ah, da, da, da
Da da da da, da, da, da ah da
Da da da da ah, da, da, da

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Gloria

Gloria
I smell it on your breath
Gloria
The booze and peppermint
Gloria
No one said enough is enough

Gloria
They found you on the floor
Gloria
My hand was tied to yours
Gloria
Did you finally see that enough is enough?

Did you know me when I was younger then?
I could take the whole world with me
I would find myself feel alone
Heaven help me now, heaven show the way
Get me back on my own two feet
I would lie awake and pray you don't lie awake for me

Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Gloria
You crawled up on your cross
Gloria
You made us sit and watch
Gloria
No one said enough is enough

Heaven help me now, heaven show the way
Get me back on my own two feet
I would lie awake and pray you don't lie awake for me
Every night awake, every day alone
Get me back on my own two feet
I would lie awake and pray you don't lie awake for me

Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Gloria
Will you just decide?
Gloria
There's easier ways to die
Gloria
Have you had enough?

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It Wasn't Easy To Be Happy For You

On the last time we met
Your love was dead
You held my hand
Bit your tongue
Shut me out
Spilled my blood
All around

Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you
Yeah, I took the poison, praying you'd feel it too
You held your punches back, and I left the room
Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you

All alone
Your ax fell
We dragged you down
Gave me hell
Made your bed
Now you sleep
On your own
Guess we'll see

Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you
Yeah, I took the poison, praying you'd feel it too
You held your punches back, and I left the room
Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you

I know that you tried
But you're no friend of mine
Falling apart
You played it the best
A dame in distress, ooh

Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you
Yeah, wrapped my neck and prayed that you'd feel the noose
I saw the restaurant table for two
Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you
Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you
Yeah, I took the poison, praying you'd feel it too
You held your punches back, and I left the room
Yeah, it wasn't easy to be happy for you

Yeah
Yeah
Yeah

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Left For Denver

What time was it
When you were only 18 years old?
You crossed the street, you crossed your legs
You came across a little cold
And it was all, it was all
Falling apart (falling apart)

What time, what time was it
When you were in the eighth grade
You brought the box up to the high school
You spiked the Gatorade
And it was all for, for the weekend
It was all, all still falling apart

I didn't say you'd be better off if you quit
Everyone left as you held on longer than the rest
What made you leave? And when you did you left for Denver
Why? What did you know that I did not?
That I did not?

Oh is it one, or is it two
Or is it three kids now?
They mark the time, they draw the lines
Around your eyelids now
And is it all still, for the weekend?
Is it all, all still falling apart?

I didn't say you'd be better off if you quit
Everyone left as you held on longer than the rest
What made you leave? And when you did you left for Denver
Why? What did you know that I did not?
That I did not?

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My Cell

Falling in love is wonderful
Falling in love is so alone
My cell
My pretty little cell

Painted windows there for me
Painted windows so I can see

Falling in love is wonderful
Falling in love is so alone
My cell
My pretty little cell

Painted windows, so I see
Painted windows, are for me

My cell
My pretty little cell

My cell
My pretty little cell

My cell
My pretty little cell

My cell
My pretty little cell

All alone
All alone
All alone
All alone
All alone
All alone
All alone
All alone

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Jimmy Sparks

Jimmy Sparks went into bars and opened up his mouth
Said some things to wounded men they could not allow
When it came to talking, he was always on the run
Everyone knew what the man had done
Ooh he'll take you for a ride

Jimmy believed in the American way
A prison guard, he worked hard and made the minimum wage
He found his freedom like a man in a cage ooh

Jimmy loved Bonnie and he fathered a kid
A baby boy but the mother had other reasons to live
She left the baby with a note on the bed ooh

It was a struggle just to cover the rent
His jail cut hours and hours little baby was sick
He needed money and he needed it quick, it was 3AM

Oh my love, oh my love
Could you spare my blood, spare my blood

Jim woke his son and buckled him in the car
They drove an hour from town and found a gambling hall
The waitress babysat the boy at the bar, oh no
After an hour Jimmy doubled his cash
He took his kid and his winnings as the dealer just laughed
He said they leave and then they always come back that's a fact

Out on the road they caught a stranger in the lights
His thumb was up and his son asked if the man was alright
Jim said you never give a hitcher a ride 'cause its us or them
It was 3AM

Oh my love, oh my love
Could you spare my blood, spare my blood

Twenty years gone and now the boy is a man
Broke Jimmy's habits got in mountains and mountains of debt
And now the sharks are coming back to collect oh oh
They stripped his jewelry and the boots of Jim's feet
They kick him out the car and said we'll give you a week
8 miles from home and only 18 degrees it was 3AM

Oh my love, oh my love
Could you spare my blood, damn my blood

Now Jimmy's son is trying to make his way home
His graveyard shift ended and it was starting to snow
He sees an old man walking barefoot alone, it was 3AM
His old man waved his hands with tears in his eyes
But Jimmy's son just sped up and remembered daddy's advice
No you don't ever give a hitcher a ride
'Cause it's us or them
'Cause it's me or him
It was 3AM
3AM

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April

[Instrumental]

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Salt And The Sea

Could it be I was the one that you held so deep in the night
On the back staircase you fell to your knees with tears in your eyes

All that you suffered, all the disease
You couldn't hide it, hide it from me

All alone scared in your room, would you swear there's nobody home
On the bed laying awake as you prayed he'd leave you alone

I'll let the darkness swallow me whole
I need to find you, need you to know

I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
Like the salt and the sea

And they wrote all these prescriptions, they wrote me off
Like a heel
Yeah, the doctors with their medicine left me
To rock in my filth

From the destruction, out of the flame
You need a villain, give me a name

I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
Like the salt and the sea
Like the salt and the sea

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Democracy (Bonus Track)

It's coming through a hole in the air
From those nights in Tiananmen Square
It's coming from the feeling
This ain't exactly real
Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there

From the wars against disorder
From the sirens night and day
From the fires of the homeless
From the ashes of the gay
Democracy is coming to the USA

It's coming through a crack in the wall
On a visionary flood of alcohol
From the staggering account
Of the Sermon on the Mount
Which I don't pretend to understand at all
It's coming from the silence
On the dock of the bay
From the brave, the bold, the battered
Heart of Chevrolet
Democracy is coming to the USA

It's coming from the sorrow in the street

The holy places where the races meet
From the homicidal bitchin'
That goes down in every kitchen
To determine who will serve and who will eat
From the wells of disappointment
Where the women kneel to pray
For the grace of God in the desert here
And the desert far away
Democracy is coming to the USA

Sail on, sail on
Oh mighty ship of state!
To the shores of need
Past the reefs of greed
Through the squalls of hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on

It's coming to America first

The cradle of the best and of the worst
It's here they've got the range
And the machinery for change
And it's here they've got the spiritual thirst
It's here the family's broken
And it's here the lonely say
That the heart has got to open
In a fundamental way
Democracy is coming to the USA

It's coming from the women and the men
Oh baby, we'll be making love again
We'll be going down so deep
That the river's going to weep
And the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
Beneath the lunar sway
Imperial, mysterious

In amorous array
Democracy is coming to the USA

Sail on, sail on
Oh mighty ship of state!
To the shores of need
Past the reefs of greed
Through the squalls of hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
Oh, I love the country but I can't stand the scene
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight
Getting lost in that hopeless little screen
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
That time cannot decay
I'm junk but I'm still holding up

This little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the USA
To the USA
To the USA
To the USA

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Old Lady (Bonus Track)

An old lady crosses the street
And as she waves to me
I don't see her

And I know that one day I

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

And how I miss my mother's mother
She became a stranger, but I still love her
And I hope, I hope she turns

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Now the day came, when we left her
We couldn't say goodbye, and I know that I was wrong
But I hope that she knows

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

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Soundtrack Song (Bonus Track)

Loneliness, oh won't you let me be
Let me be and I will set you free
Don't you think if it was up to me
I would choose to be happy

Let me go, the king's on high
He picks her out of the crowd to be by his side
She walks up, staircase in white
She holds her breath, pretends that this is right

'Cause all this, it don't come free
And don't become a casualty
And live beneath what you were meant to be

'Cause cowards and heroes feel
The same as you and me, it's real
But some will run and others persevere

Victory is in the fight
In men with hearts will bleed tonight
And only rest and rest is what is right