LA— I can’t tell if the ocean’s calling or the streetlights— We drove the coast in borrowed gold, Headlights like a prophecy, You said the world was getting old, So we should never sleep. The radio was dripping blue, A slow confession through the noise, And I kept swallowing the truth Like it was just a choice. The tide rolls in, the lie rolls out, We drown in what we don’t talk about. There’s a neon undertow Pulling on my ribs, pulling on my throat, Says, “Come on, let it go—” But I can’t let you go. We shine like a miracle, Break like a film in the overload, And every time the crowd explodes, I feel that neon undertow. I tried to laugh it off, “It’s fine,” Like jokes can hold a ceiling up, But every flashbulb draws a line Around the way we touch. They want the story, want the kiss, Want angels in a three-part frame, So we rehearse our tenderness And call it by their name. The water’s warm, the air is sharp, We swim around the fragile part. There’s a neon undertow Pulling on my ribs, pulling on my throat, Says, “Come on, let it go—” But I can’t let you go. We shine like a miracle, Break like a film in the overload, And every time the crowd explodes, I feel that neon undertow. If I told the truth, would it set me free— Or would it set fire to everything? We’re living in the in-between, Where love is real but names are thieves. (harmony swell) I hear the surf like distant drums, I hear my heartbeat say, “Run, run—” But my body stays, my body stays… There’s a neon undertow Pulling on my ribs, pulling on my throat, Says, “Come on, let it go—” But I can’t let you go. We shine like a miracle, Break like a film in the overload, And every time the crowd explodes, I feel that neon undertow. Pulling… pulling… Neon undertow…
