Kevin Devine, “Between The Concrete & The Clouds” ...

Video - Permalink

Kevin Devine, “Between The Concrete & The Clouds”

i saw Kevin play play a solo show last night with mewithoutYou, and this song moved me like few ever have. A light went on. I got the chills. It straightened my spine and shook me. And then it firmly implanted itself in my head. I woke up humming it.

What a phenomenal lyricist.

Walked in the world, became a Catholic
The oil and the guilt
Somewhere in high school switched to atheist
Your anger and your will

Turned 25 freaked out by everything
The bodies piled up
Fled to your mind when they stopped listening

And said, “Enough’s enough
What if it’s all just jokes?
Casper, The Holy Ghost
What if it’s all just stones you get to throw?”

And every single time that you opened your mouth,
Someone else’s lies came tumbling out
Parading as the truth in a cap and a gown
A graduated curse that you cast to the ground

To settle your debts you took a dozen steps
Or started on the path
Kept falling off when faced with righteousness
You couldn’t work the math

God in the wood, the words, the coffee pot
It wasn’t adding up
At war with yourself, afraid of everyone

You said, “Enough’s enough
How could you ever know?
What if you said you don’t?
What if you cleared your throat and let it go?”

So every single time that you opened your mouth
Something like the truth came struggling out
A picture of the past you kept whittling down
To a version of yourself you could follow around

So what if the end just ends?
It’s worthless to worry, then
To wrestle yourself to death again and again

Now every single time that you open your mouth
Give yourself a breath while you’re working it out
The answer’s in between all the concrete and clouds
It’s anywhere you want, it’s next to you now