A Place Where I Can Breathe

i only wanted such a little thing
only simplicity
and now that i am who i was taught to be
you have abandoned me
i held so tightly to every word you said
that's the price of the respect you've always demanded
and all those things i've gathered through the years
have no value here

(chorus)
i need to find a place where i can breathe
somewhere high above this empty landscape
where the air is clear
and i need to find it while i still can

in a world like this
how can you wonder at my sadness?
now i hope for something beautiful
but i feel trapped under your waves of wreckage
and if i cannot claw my own way through
i fear one day i will be just like you

in this land of vacant stars
in the backseats of desperate cars
in single-mother topless bars
we ache for something more
your sons and your daughters
are unwilling martyrs
to the devils, priests, and other thieves
and their wars and rumors of war
i need a handgun and a hand grenade
to protect me from those who keep me safe
still i remember you straight face:
"Some day this will all be yours."