I Won Once

Verse 1 I won once by the river And the river carried on Like it hadn’t seen the horses Like it didn’t know the song There were helmets in the water There were cups still full of wine There were men who’d called him master Now pretending to be mine Someone laughed inside his tent Then remembered I was there I was young enough to notice I was old enough to stare At the dinner getting colder At the perfume in the cloth At the little human panic Of a king who’d taken off Pre-Chorus And the men began to cheer Like cheering was a chain And I felt the whole world asking If I’d do it all again Chorus I won once And they made it forever I won once Now it has to get better I was only still breathing I was only still young I won once And they loaded the gun Verse 2 Every mouth became a trumpet Every silence became proof Every man who’d doubted yesterday Discovered he was truth They said, “Look how heaven loves you” They said, “Look how Darius ran” I said, “Any man will run When the earth forgets his plan” There were boys beside the horses Spitting blood into the grass And the old men called it history Before the bodies passed Bridge The first impossible thing Is the one that does you in Because after that they know You can become it all again The first impossible thing Is a room without a door You win once for the living Then you win forevermore Final Chorus I won once And they made it forever I won once Now it has to get better I was only still breathing I was only still young I won once And they loaded the gun Outro I won once I won once I won once And the wanting had begun