Plasticene from No Backtracking by Evan McCormick

Johnny was boy in lookout valley
The summer there was cool like water on the coast.
And his friends would fuck around the summer river,
But only Johnny knew the river flowed

Johnny’s family sailed out to the Lonely city
Giant gleaming shards of concrete on the coast
The other kids, well they just couldn't swim that quickly
So Johnny took his wooden frames, his plastic ghosts

So box your life because we’re entering the plasticene.
Pay the fare and spare a quarter if you dare,
And my wings are hollow things that I can’t bring with me,
And I can’t wave, my hand is melting in the air.

Johnny soon enrolled in Lonely city College
He was top of the class in archeology,
And all the girls fell for his money and his knowledge,
Turns out feeling wasn’t the best strategy.

As a grown man he went on an expedition,
Up the river to the ruins of his valley,
After several days he found his town deserted,
And a dry river held a pair of plastic wings

So box your life because you’re entering the plasticene.
Pay the fare and spare a quarter if you dare,
And my wings are hollow things that I can’t bring with me,
And I can’t wave, my hand is melting in the air.

Johnny wore his wings to camp and hugged his men,
Told them this marked the end of the holocene.
But when he took the plastic back to lonely city
The people stared and laughed at Johnny and his wings

So he called all of his colleagues to a meeting,
On the city’s tallest tower, scraping the sky,
He should have told them he could fly, should have said something.
But they looked ashamed, so Johnny just jumped off the side.

Johnny flew all the way back to lookout valley
And in his head he heard his friends sing ancient songs
And his wings flew to the top of endless mountain
But Johnny couldn’t bring his better self along

When he saw those kids he grabbed onto the cliff face,
Because he feared that they been there all along
So he just hid beneath as his wings slowly melted,
He called for help but it was drowned beneath their song

So box your lives because we’re entering the plasticene,
Just pay the fare and spare a quarter if you dare,
And my wings are hollow things that I can’t bring with me,
And I can’t wave, my hand is melting in the air

So box your life because we’re entering the plasticene.
Pay the fare and spare a quarter if you dare,
And my wings are hollow things that I can’t bring with me,
And I can’t wave, my hand is melting in the air.

I don't know how long his hands will hold
I don't know how long till I grow old
x3

• Acoustic
• Folk
• Rock
• bittersweet
• indie
• singer-songwriter
• Clinton