[Verse 1]

Children running down the street in uniforms laughing in the rain

And heading towards me, they were yelling about something

They were singing in code, something like

Ten dead men on a dead man's chest

Fight the war forget about the rest

They were searching for sunlight

They were searching for gold

[Verse 2]

So I; catch a fever from the inside

Dip my hands into my pockets

Open up my wallet

Such a strange gesture to make in this town

"Sure, it ain't gold but it gets me around."

Then I grab a twenty from the inside

Hand it to the smallest, tell him "Spend it wisely."

He looks up at me then back at the ground

I just wish him luck and turn right around

[Bridge]

Now I talk to myself late at night

Or I try to connect with the ghost who was a best friend

My brother, my accomplice, another writer, my best man

And sometimes I feel so forgiven at night

I just put down the shades but I open my window

The bad luck just leaves me I hear Ben tell me

"Brother, you're home."

[Pre-Chorus]

Think it all started in the summer '98

In Normandy New Jersey, later in the day

I was thinking about existence, and unaccepting fate

I was 14 years old, but what else can I say

Even then I knew time was gonna catch me

I graduated private school in the summer of '02

My first true love had left me and I didn't know what to do

I moved into New York and I thought I found the truth

A pint glass full of paddy's and pills you shouldn't chew

Well, I swore that the drugs were gonna kill me

I was wrong I was wrong, I was writing a song

I tried to blame myself because she was gone

I didn't know that she was unaffected

Her bad luck came through a needle

I knew that the drugs were gonna kill her

Fast forward to the fall of '05

I met the girl of my dreams, and she helped me survive

Then she left my life at complicated times

In March of '06 I attempted suicide

Well, I know that Sudafed can't kill me!

[Chorus]

For everyone who knew, yeah, I apologize

I'm sorry mom and dad, I never meant to make you cry

Thanks to all my friends you're the reason I'm alive

You make everyday worth living in this ribbon called time

Well, it'll take more than bad luck just to kill me!

[Bridge]

Limbs and things and verbs and sounds

I got ten years of words buried in the ground

They're being reassembled by the ghost of Ben Brown

He's adapting the screenplay even still now

And he better cast someone cool like Johnny Depp to play me

[Outro]

The child took my 20 and he looked me in the eyes

He said "Thanks, mister for the gold." and continued walking by

I could see him proudly show his friends it made me want to cry

Cause all I could do was think of mine, I know I'm a lucky guy

And thank you all for everything I miss you all, goodnight