i am out here studying stones   trying to learn to be less alive   using all of my will   to keep very still   still even on the inside   i've cut all of the pertinent wires   so my eyes can't make that connection   i am holding my breath   i am feigning my death   when i'm looking in your direction      'course numb is an old hat   old as my oldest memories   see that one's my mother   and that one's my father   and that one in the hat, that's me   it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon   when i got out on the open road   but any more pent up emotion   and i think i'm gonna explode      there's never been an endeavor so strange   as trying to slow the blood in my veins   to keep my face blank   as a stone that just sank   until not a ripple remains   i am high above the tree line   sitting cross legged on the ground   when all of the forbidden fruit has fallen and rotted   that's when i'm gonna come down      'course numb is an old hat   old as my oldest memories   see that one's my mother   and that one's my father   and that one in the hat, that's me   it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon   when i got out on the open road   but any more pent up emotion   and i think i'm gonna explode