Beautiful People at the End of the World

[Intro - spoken, intimate, almost documentary-like] Hold still. The horizon's a little messy. Take the smoke out. Take the water down. Take the people out behind us. Make the sky a little warmer. Perfect. No. Don't turn around. [808 enters.] Don’t look behind. [Verse 1] Mama got the kids lined up, Clean shirts, Sunday best. Flood line halfway up the porch, But the hair’s still pressed. Daddy says, "Smile, baby. Give 'em something we can share." Whole town floatin' down the river, But it ain't in the frame. Trash piled high on the broken pier. Dead birds fall, Then disappear. Yellow sky? That's a filter now. Black lungs? Don't zoom out. [Pre-Chorus] Just a little brighter. Just a little clean. Nobody wants to look at What they haven't seen. [Chorus] Take another picture. The world don't fit the frame. Wash away the water. Leave the face, Keep the fame. Take another picture. Make the bad things fade. If it doesn't get the numbers, Did it happen anyway? Hands up. Chin high. Hold that perfect smile. Everything is burning... Just don't look behind. Take another picture. Take another picture. Beautiful people... At the end of the world. [Verse 2] Old man sleeping by the grocery sign. Crop him out. He spoils the shot. Little girl crying behind that fence. Blur that shape. It's too much. Plastic bottles in the rising tide. Green water stretching for a mile. A whale washed up where the children play. Just keep the camera the other way. Everybody says, "Pretty... You look alive." Funny thing to say When the birds fell from the sky. [Pre-Chorus] Just a little softer. Just a little gold. Everybody loves a story Better when it's told. [Chorus] Take another picture. The world don't fit the frame. Wash away the water. Leave the face, Keep the fame. Take another picture. Make the bad things fade. If it doesn't get the numbers, Did it happen anyway? Hands up. Chin high. Hold that perfect smile. Everything is burning... Just don't look behind. Take another picture. Take another picture. Beautiful people... At the end of the world. [Bridge - spoken, calm, almost instructional. The music strips down to bass and percussion.] Smile for the camera. Hold it right there. Take the smoke out. Clean up the air. Fix the water. Brighten the blue. Everybody's dying... That's not for the feed. One more picture. One more pose. Nothing's wrong... If nobody knows. knows...knows... [Final Chorus - larger, but never shouted] Take another picture. The world don't fit the frame. Wash away the water. Leave the face, Keep the fame. Take another picture. Make the bad things fade. If it doesn't get the numbers, Did it happen anyway? Hands up. Chin high. Hold that perfect smile. Everything is burning... And no one looks behind. Take another picture. Take another picture. Beautiful people... At the end of the world. [Outro - spoken exactly like the opening. Music falls away until only sub bass remains.] The horizon's a little messy. Take the smoke out. Take the water down. Take the people out behind us. Make the sky a little warmer. Perfect. No. Don't turn around.