Joe Henry
"Flag"

Take that noise out in the street,
This rubble out from under my feet
No rest for the weary in here,
And make a fuss, you're a volunteer.
These days, they lord above me
Growing mean as they grow shorter,
Like a flag on a closing border now...
Closing right behind you

In a crowd down off the hill,
Full of bloodlust and good will,
We carried pride above our heads
Like a flag we could cheer to wake the dead.
And when we could go no further,
And were drowning on a desert,
We raised our flag to follow the breath of God...
But it was blowing every which way.

I loved you long before I knew
Love is something one decides to do.
My vanity and fear conspired belief
That love's just a mirror for a thief.
So when you held me tight against you
And I mistook your heart for thunder,
And like a flag, hid behind and under you...
Who could blame me?

(When you held me tight against you
And I mistook your heart for thunder,
Like a flag, I hid behind it
Like a flag, I'm hiding under you)
Now I hang my clothes out to dry
Like waves of surrender, they fly.
The whore of this world looks old and played
Still she peeks from the alley
like a waiting bride's maid.
Laugh or bleed as you need to
Who of us doesn't know already?
Every flag flies like confetti now...