(Verse 1) My shoes are tied too tight against the floor. You breathe through your teeth, counting up to four. If I stand, the floorboards give away. If I lean against your shoulder, I decay. Nothing moves inside the room. Not the dust, not the spoon sinking sideways in the lukewarm tea. You’re staring at the wall right next to me. (Chorus) Leave and it turns to iron. Stay and it turns to rust. Either way, the jaw locks. Either way, it turns to dust. I’m pinned between the rib and the spine. Your pulse beating right out of mine. Not choosing is the choice I make. How long does a body take to petrify? (Verse 2) You drop your keys onto the low bedside. The metal doesn't ring; it just slides. I imagine my hands on the rusted bolt. I imagine the shock of an open volt. Both hands open. Fingers went dead. Carrying your silence like a bowl of lead. (Chorus) Leave and it turns to iron. Stay and it turns to rust. Either way, the jaw locks. Either way, it turns to dust. I’m pinned between the rib and the spine. Your pulse beating right out of mine. Not choosing is the choice I make. How long does a body take to petrify? (Bridge) (One heavy distorted chord sustained under an eBow drone, repeating without resolving) Say "get out" or pull my hair back. Don’t leave the hinge swinging in the crack. Just snap the tendon. Just let me bleed. The middle is the only place I bleed. (Chorus) Leave and it turns to iron. Stay and it turns to rust. Either way, the jaw locks. Either way, it turns to dust. I’m pinned between the rib and the spine. Your pulse beating right out of mine. Not choosing is the choice I make. How long does a body take to petrify?
