Colors Run

Everybody wanna change the world
But nobody ever changed this town
Tell yourself you're gonna rise above it
Until the blacktop pulls you down

We got blue veins til they hit the knife
And we don't change who we are
We got blue veins til they hit the knife
And they bleed red, bleed red
[Chorus]
Why can't I be more?
I don't wanna fight my father's wars
Nothing comes easy where I come from
So we sweat it out in the concrete sun
Til the colors run

I've seen the story play out before
Old men, they just fade away
And we become what our fathers were
Like soldiers following the orders
Put it on the shoulders of the family name
It's who we are

We got blue veins til they hit the knife
And they bleed red, bleed red

Why can't I be more?
I don't wanna fight my father's wars
Nothing comes easy where I come from
So we sweat it out in the concrete sun
Til the colors run

Maybe it's like Axel spins it:
You hate it, you hate it, and then one day you miss it
Find yourself coming back to old divisions
While your cinder block dream sleeps with the fishes
Thought it had wings, you thought you could fly
But nobody flies on the south side
You're just born here and then you die
Loyal to the oil in the blacktop sky

Or maybe it's like Joni says it
Nothing is written boy, nothing is set
There's something brave about staying with it
And making beauty out of all of this...
But I'm a long way from going the distance
Feels more like dying by inches
All the wishes, and the misses
The poverty of indifference

Why can't I be more?
I don't wanna fight my father's wars
Nothing comes easy where I come from
So we sweat it out in the concrete sun
Til the colors run