[Intro] The town is a wound The moon is a wire He gathers what’s left Of the girl he set fire [Verse 1] Mad in the ashes Mad in the crown He talks to her pieces Like she might come down “Hold on, Miss Straw I can fix what I broke I can stitch you in silence I can swallow the smoke” She don’t hold on She don’t curse his name She’s a broken scarecrow In a king’s insane game Through the wreck of the normal Through the glass and the grain He carries her home Through the ruin he made [Pre-Chorus] Every street he leveled Watches him pass A madman in glory With a rag in his grasp No court left to cheer No choir left to sing Just destruction for carpet And a cracked little king [Chorus] Back to the tower Up the crooked stair Craze for a doctor Grief for a prayer He tries to heal her With a mind gone wild Talkin’ to buttons Like they still are a child Mad king Broken straw The tower don’t save ’em It just shuts the door [Verse 2] He lays her on a table Made of hymn and bone Threads needles with moonlight Talks in a moan “I did it for love I did it for seams I did it so never Could they tear you from me” The words come out backwards The grin comes out wrong He’s tryin’ to raise her With a lullaby song That sounds like a storm Stuck inside a throat He breathes on the harvest Like breath is a hope [Pre-Chorus] She twitches once That’s all he needs He laughs like a chapel Fallin’ to its knees “See? She’s returnin’ See? I can mend” The tower keeps quiet It knows this end [Chorus] Back to the tower Up the crooked stair Craze for a doctor Grief for a prayer He tries to heal her With a mind gone wild Talkin’ to buttons Like they still are a child Mad king Broken straw The tower don’t save ’em It just shuts the door [Bridge] He draws on the walls Every night they lost One night free The chase The rip The cost He circles her name Till the chalk turns to dust Promises science Promises magic Promises us There is no us There’s a king off his hinge And a scarecrow too broken To feel the cringe [Verse 3] Days don’t visit The tower don’t care He stitches, unstitches Puts wheat in her hair Sometimes he sleeps On the floor by the bed Wakes up convincin’ The war in his head “You’ll dance, Miss Straw You’ll walk through the corn You’ll laugh at the living We’ll make us reborn” She stares at the rafters A doll with a past Whatever he heals Ain’t the girl that he had [Chorus] Back to the tower Up the crooked stair Craze for a doctor Grief for a prayer He tries to heal her With a mind gone wild Talkin’ to buttons Like they still are a child Mad king Broken straw The tower don’t save ’em It just shuts the door [Outro] Crown on the bedpost Needle in his hand A kingdom of rubble And a love he can’t stand To look at too long Without comin’ apart He retreats from the world With a broken scarecrow heart In the tower he raves In the tower he kneels Mad as the night Tryin’ to make her Get well Get well Get well
