Album: Shake the Sheets (2004)
Play Video
  • As I was walking through a life one morning
    The sun was out, the air was warm but oh,
    I was cold,
    And though I must have looked a half a person,
    To tell the tale in my own version,
    It was only then that I felt whole.

    Do you believe in something beautiful?
    Then, get up and be it
    Fighting for the smallest goal:
    To get a little self-control.
    I know how hard you try.
    I see it in your eyes.
    Call your friends, 'cause we've forgotten
    What it's like to eat what's rotten,
    And what's eating you alive,
    Might help you to survive.

    We went on, as we were on a mission,
    Latest in a Grand Tradition.
    Oh, what did we find?
    It was Ego who was flying the banner,
    Me and Mia, Ann and Ana, oh,
    We'd been unkind.

    Do you believe in something beautiful?
    Then, get up and be it
    Fighting for the smallest goal:
    To get a little self-control.
    I see it in your eyes,
    I see it in your spine,
    But call your friends, 'cause we've forgotten
    What it's like to eat what's rotten
    And what's eating you alive,
    Might help you to survive

    Even the nights that could get better.
    And even the days aren't all that bad.
    And after a week of fighting,
    As more and more it seems the right thing

    Do you believe in something beautiful?
    Then get up and be it
    Fighting for the smallest goal:
    To gain a little self-control
    Won't anybody here just let you disappear?
    Not doctors, nor your mom nor dad,
    But me and Mia, Ann and Ana
    Know how hard you try,
    Don't you see it in my eyes?

    Sick to death of my dependence,
    Fighting food to find transcendence.
    Fighting to survive.
    More dead, but more alive.
    Cigarettes and speed to live,
    And sleeping pills to feel forgiven.
    All that you contrive,
    And all that you're deprived.

    All the bourgeois social angels
    Telling you you've got to change.
    Don't have any idea.
    They'll never see so clear.
    But don't forget what it really means to
    Hunger strike,
    When you don't really need to
    Some are dying for the cause, but that don't make it yours.
    And even the nights, they could get better Writer/s: Theodore F Leo
    Publisher: CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Candace from Bremerton, WaThis song isn't really about a pair of people with eating disorders; it's more like the main character sees someone who he can recognize as having an eating disorder and is telling them it's okay, I know because I have one too. Mia is buliMIA but it's actually Ana not Ann, Ana is shorthand slang for anorexia as in "pro ana" websites.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.

La La Brooks of The Crystals

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."