"Backbeaten" lyrics

I heard your mother left you when you were sixteen
Saw your sense of hope float in the mist
And dad would crush you in a pile of glue
If he ever even knew you'd exist
I watched you fill your days with a cliched rage
Did it all for the sake of the song
But your songs were never spoken
And your heart's still broken

I heard your lover left you when your needs grew mean
Her job became to clean up your mess
New friends will be through in a year or two
Tell 'em daily you're too real for success
You think that staying off stage leaves a mind unstained
Learned that lie from a line in a song
But your songs were never spoken
And your heart's still broken
All backbeaten open

So what's the ramification?
You are your own worst enemy
It's always you vs. the nation
Backbeaten spleen on your sleeve
I know you think you're an island
But I can see someone in there smiling at me
But still your songs are never spoken
And your heart's still broken
All backbeaten open

I heard your body failed you late out on the scene
Years abused there to claim what you'd miss
You must know by now that you'll make no sound
That's easier than trying your best
I watched you fill your days with a cliched rage
You lost faith for the sake of the song
But your songs were never spoken
And your heart's still broken
All backbeaten open

And now you wish you'd be entombed in a Hard Rock Cafe
A god in a shopping mall
Now you wish you'd be entombed in a Hard Rock Cafe
You never wrote songs
But all your lies are still spoken
All backbeaten open

So what's the ramification?
You are your own worst enemy
It's always you vs. the nation
Backbeaten spleen on your sleeve
I know you think you're an island
But I can see someone in there smiling at me

This black hole that you've become
Let it go
Doesn't have to be you
This asshole that you've become
Let him go
Doesn't have to be you
That doesn't have to be you