[Intro - whispered over clean guitar] Ceiling fan, ceiling fan, keeping time above the bed Ceiling fan, ceiling fan, counting all the men I could've been instead [Verse 1] There's a landlord in my head and I have never paid the rent, so he takes it out in Sundays and the sleep I should have spent. I built a nicer version out of borrowed hands and teeth and I let him do the talking while I'm quiet underneath. He shakes the room, he works the hand, he never breaks a sweat, and every time somebody laughs I lose a little more of it. There's a coat check in the hallway where I hung up who I was — the ticket's in my pocket and I never claimed it. Does [Pre-Chorus] anybody ever ask? If my name comes up, if they wonder how I'm holding, hold your tongue and hold it up — [Chorus] Tell them I'm fine. (he's not, he's not) Tell them I sleep. (he does not) Tell them the kid in the basement with the cheap guitar made it out of the water, made it out this far. Tell them I'm fine. (don't tell them where I am) Tell them I'm fine. [Verse 2] You were the only one who ever heard me lose the thread, now you're selling my December to whoever hasn't read. You're a needle in my history and you dropped it on the worst, you play my quietest evening at a party — chorus before verse. I'd forgive you in a heartbeat if the heart was mine to give, but I keep it in a jar behind the ribs where it can't live. And every time you say my name I hear it like a door, so when they ask about me, do the thing you did before. [Pre-Chorus] Nobody has to know. If my name comes up, if they wonder how I'm holding, hold your tongue and hold it up — [Chorus] Tell them I'm fine. (he's not, he's not) Tell them I sleep. (he does not) Tell them the kid in the basement with the cheap guitar made it out of the water, made it out this far. Tell them I'm fine. (don't tell them where I am) Tell them I'm fine. [Bridge - bass and one voice only] I'm not asking for a rescue, I'm not asking for a rope. Just a witness in the water. Just a name inside a note. I have practiced this in mirrors till the mirror learned my face. Say it slower. [Final Chorus - falsetto lead, counterpoint flipped] Tell them I'm fine. (I'm not, I'm not) Tell them I sleep. (I do not) Tell them the kid in the basement never left the stairs, he's still down there in the dark and he's still down there telling them I'm fine. (don't tell them where I am) Telling them I'm fine.
