WHEN DID WE GET MEAN? You know what's crazy? You used to know everything about me. Guess you still do. Your favorite mug is chipped, still sitting by the sink I know you hate that I don't ask, you hate that I don't think Before I say the kind of thing I can't unsay again We used to finish sentences, now we finish them with blame You say I'm just like my father, watch the color leave my face I bring up that night you cried and told me things in faith We got the whole damn history, every scar beneath the skin And we keep reaching for the places we were trusted to get in A picture of us laughing underneath the fridge-door light Looks like two people we'd make fun of if they walked in here tonight You say I never loved you right, I say you loved control And neither one believes it, but we say it like we know We learned each other's languages Then turned them into knives Tell me how the hands that held me Got so good at drawing lines When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did we get so good at being cruel? You know the worst of me, me, me And I know exactly where to wound you We used to say, "Don't leave, don't leave" Now we say things we can't take back When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did love start sounding like that? Like that, like that When did love start sounding like that? I can tell what kind of night it is from how you shut a drawer You can tell I'm holding something by the way I watch the floor We could stop right here and listen, we could leave the past alone But I throw another match and act surprised the room fills up with smoke And the girls are in the living room, making kingdoms out of chairs We're smiling for the pictures while the damage hangs upstairs They're asking if we're coming, so we answer, "In a sec" Then rehearse a little happiness and put on our Sunday best Your hand reaches past my shoulder for the coffee on the shelf Once I would have kissed your fingers; now I move and hate myself We used to know when to be gentle, used to know when to give in Now being right for half a minute matters more than making amends We learned each other's languages Then turned them into knives Tell me how the hands that held me Got so good at drawing lines When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did we get so good at being cruel? You know the worst of me, me, me And I know exactly where to wound you We used to say, "Don't leave, don't leave" Now we say things we can't take back When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did love start sounding like that? I knew that would hurt you. Said it anyway. I keep calling you the problem Like I ain't standing in the rain With a matchbook in my pocket And your name inside the flame If you asked me who we used to be I could tell you every part But I can't tell you when we started Keeping score instead of hearts And I still want you to reach for me Even when I pull away Ain't that a fucked-up kind of loving? Wanting comfort from the pain When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did we get so good at being cruel? You know the worst of me, me, me And I know exactly where to wound you We used to say, "Don't leave, don't leave" Now we say things we can't take back When did we get mean? Mean, mean When did love start sounding like that? I don't even know who started it. I just know we both kept going.
