LYRIC: 86
They say there’s no return
You can’t go home again
My haircut proved them wrong
The trimmings fall on local paper
A familiar front door
I was six when I first saw it
Said goodbye at twenty-nine
Dead people don’t need their houses
I used to think the place was haunted
Couldn’t have guessed I’d know the ghosts
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
That new chapter that never quite turned the page
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
Until the cracks could just not be contained
They called it a new start
Back when we were kids
Thought changing house might change each other
Pretend the marriage wasn’t over
A new address to mend old wounds
Barely speaking, seldom smiling
An elephant in every room
We were trained to just ignore them
Painting lipstick on a corpse
I used to blame the architecture
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
That new chapter that never quite turned the page
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
Until the cracks could just not be contained
Daddy not around
Cuz he’s fucking around
Mom buried in work
To avoid how much it hurt
They wouldn’t even fight
It was somehow worse
Living separate lives
Under the same roof
An appointment after work
Faking first time buyers
A long sleeve shirt to cover up
My new eighty-six tattoo
The one that matches with my sister’s
The one that brands us as survivors
They’d spent a lot to do it up
But 86, it still felt haunted
Plush new carpets aren’t enough
To mask those same old creaking floorboards
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
That new chapter that never quite turned the page
Back when we lived, for all those years at 86
Until the cracks could just not be contained