Ghoul of the Golden Age

[Verse 1] Used to ride a plastic horse For the kids and the camera crews Smile painted on like armor Like the flag stitched on my suit I sold a future in bright red letters Promised parents their kids were safe Then the sky turned into daylight And I watched my world erased [Chorus] I am the ghoul of the golden age Face cracked like an old billboard All that shine turned into fallout rain All that faith cut by the sword Still got sand in my teeth Ash in my lungs Names of the lost on the tip of my tongue I am the ghost of the good ol’ days Stumbling through what’s left of grace [Verse 2] There was a party in the valley Champagne Speeches Perfect hair My little girl wore plastic tiaras Thought the grown-ups really cared Then the sirens sang their chorus Basement doors A metal bed I kissed my family through the terror Then the fire crowned my head [Chorus] I am the ghoul of the golden age Skin burned into leather and bone Every promise we made on stage Left my loved ones under stone Still hear Lucy calling from another time See a cowboy hat in a nursery rhyme I am the ghost of the good ol’ days Walking through their frightened faith [Bridge] Met a girl who still believed In rules on pages Black and white Carried kindness like a lantern In a world that chews the light (oh) Met a boy who’d sell his shadow For a number on his wrist A steel suit chasing orders Didn’t know what he’d missed [Verse 3] Found the bunker where they kept us Truth in filing cabinets Dust We were cattle in clean pajamas Fed on contracts Fed on trust Saw my wife in grainy footage Saw my daughter’s final years While the men who signed the papers Slept through centuries of fear [Chorus] I am the ghoul of the golden age My heart nailed to a corporate plan Watched the world become a rusted stage Built on blood of every man Still got jokes for the vultures Bullets for the kings Whiskey for the wounds that never stop to sting I am the ghost of the good ol’ days Laughing so I won’t break [Outro] So if you see me on the highway Hat pulled low against the sun Know I once held a baby Before the counting of the guns I was a husband and a father Before the country lost its soul Now I’m just Cooper in the cinders Trying to find them through the smoke