Vandalized - Matt Nathanson

Well, it’s late at night

There’s nobody around

Just the sounds of the cars

Upon the asphalt ground

It’s the waiting time

When the hours grow still

I gaze on through the glass

Inside my windowsill

Though I know that you must be

Somewhere in this world

In this place where, at birth

You and I were both hurled

To think that we once were relating

Is a thing that has almost grown foreign to me

It’s a bad sight

Such a terrible waste

To spend your time talking

In such bad taste

It’s the same old line

Though it’s not you I blame

It’s your teachers and television

That you put to shame

The night’s lasting longer

Because I’ve filled my head

With the things I could have done

And the words I could have said

But, in truth, I was only spectating

And that’s a permanent part of reality

So many rude lines

So many petty crimes

And you don’t feel a need

To apologize

Tonight is the time

That you stick in my mind

But from now on I won’t become

Vandalized

Now the room’s started filling

With the dawn’s early light

And the end has arrived

Of this long night

I turn off the television

And I hit the bed

While your shade is still haunting

My ever-vulnerable head

And there’s no use

In trying to compromise

When the kindest things we say

But it’s time I should quit my complaining

And behave with a little more dignity

So many rude lines

So many petty crimes

And you don’t feel a need

To apologize

Tonight is the time

That you stick in my mind

But from now on I won’t become

Vandalized

Written by Bill Foreman