Verse 1 I was twenty in the doorway With the old men bowing low And a boy outside the stables Who looked sick enough to know There was breakfast going cold There were names I couldn’t trust There was someone saying “destiny” With his sandals in the dust I said, “Surely there are grown men Who are better built for this” They said, “Majesty, your father Had a very famous fist” So I smiled like a statue With its face not finished yet And the whole room looked relieved That I had started to forget Pre-Chorus The throne was still warm The floor was still red And every man alive Had advice from the dead Chorus Twenty, twenty Too young to stop Too old to run Twenty, twenty Everybody loves you When the blood gets done Twenty in the doorway Twenty on the stairs Twenty with a country And nobody cares Verse 2 I had teachers full of thunder I had friends with brighter eyes I had mother saying “heaven” Like she’d seen it from inside I had men who wanted Persia I had men who wanted peace I had men who wanted anything That didn’t look like me And I knew the trick already Though I hadn’t learned the cost If you act like you were chosen They forgive you being lost Bridge I was not ready I was not calm I was a boy with a dead man’s name And a live thing in my palm I was not holy I was not wise I was twenty in a doorway With a kingdom in my eyes Final Chorus Twenty, twenty Too young to stop Too old to run Twenty, twenty Everybody loves you When the blood gets done Twenty in the doorway Twenty on the stairs Twenty with a country And nobody cares Outro Someone called me king again Someone kissed the ring I said, “Give me one more morning” They said, “There is no such thing”
