Basement Tapes

Found a box Down in the basement Dust on the lid Same old tapes Seventeen in a flannel shirt Cheap cassette in a broken deck Posters hanging on concrete walls Didn’t know what was coming yet First girl said she needed space First time I felt that kind of pain Turned it loud in the basement room Let the feedback wash my brain Kurt was gone on the evening news Whole world felt a little less true Sat downstairs with the yellow light Didn’t know what else to do When it hurts too much upstairs When the house feels wrong I go down those wooden stairs Put the old songs on Down in the basement tapes Where the years don’t change Same old chords Same old pain But it keeps me sane Down in the basement late When the night won’t end Every time life breaks I go back again Basement tapes Basement tapes Met a girl in ’98 Thought this time it might be right Little house on a narrow street Kitchen full of yellow light Kids grew up, bills came fast Every year went twice as quick Started feeling something crack Like a nail in an old wood stick Fights at two in the morning dark Words you can’t take back again Sat alone on the basement steps With the noise inside my head When the walls get way too close When I can’t explain I go down where nobody knows Play the songs again Down in the basement tapes Where the years don’t change Same old chords Same old pain But it keeps me sane Down in the basement late When the night won’t end Every time life breaks I go back again Basement tapes Basement tapes Doctor says I need to talk Says I carry too much weight Dad was gone that winter night Mom followed the next spring day Kids don’t call like they used to House feels bigger every year Found the box behind the furnace Sat down there and had a beer Same old tape Same old song Same old place I held on Down in the basement tapes Down in the basement tapes Where the years don’t change Same old chords [outro] Same old chords Same old pain But it keeps me sane Down in the basement late With the dust and sound Every time life shakes That’s where I’m found Down in the basement tapes Still the same old friend When the whole world fades They play again [music fading] Basement tapes Basement tapes Basement tapes