Life's For The Living

Album: All The Little Lights (2012)
Play Video
  • Well grey clouds wrapped round the town like elastic
    Cars stood like toys made of Taiwanese plastic
    The boy laughed at the spastic dancing around in the rain
    While laundrettes cleaned clothes, high heels rub toes
    Puddles splashed huddles of bus stop crows
    Dressed in their suits and their boots
    Well they all look the same

    I took myself down to the cafe to find all
    The boys lost in books and crackling vinyl
    And carved out a poem above the urinal that read
    Don't you cry for the lost
    Smile for the living
    Get what you need and give what you're given
    Life's for the living so live it
    Or you're better off dead

    While the evening pulled the moon out of it's packet
    Stars shone like buttons on an old man's jacket
    We needed a nail but we tacked it 'til it fell of the wall

    While pigeon's pecked trains, sparks flew like planes
    The rain showed the rainbows in the oil stains
    And we all had new iPhone's but no one had no one to call

    And I stumbled down to the stomach of the town
    Where the widow takes memories to slowly drown
    With a hand to the sky and a mist in her eye she said
    Don't you cry for the lost
    Smile for the living
    Get what you need and give what you're given
    Life's for the living so live it
    Or you're better off dead

    Well I'm sick of this town, this blind man's forage
    They take your dreams down and stick them in storage
    You can have them back son when you've paid off
    Your mortgage and loans
    Oh hell with this place, I'll go it my own way
    I'll stick out my thumb and I trudge down the highway
    Someday someone must be going my way home

    Till then I'll make my bed from a disused car
    With a mattress of leaves and a blanket of stars
    And I'll stitch the words into my heart with a needle and thread
    Don't you cry for the lost
    Smile for the living
    Get what you need and give what you're given
    You know life's for the living so live it
    Or you're better off dead

    Don't you cry for the lost
    Smile for the living
    Get what you need and give what you're given
    Life's for the living so live it
    Or you're better off dead Writer/s: Michael David Rosenberg
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Laila from SwitzerlandThe song is about living in the moment. It's important to enjoy the day as it is. As passenger literally sings: Live your life or you're better off dead. In addition he gives many examples how the life and the society changed during the last few years. Priorities are set differently and the way we deal with each other modified as well. He is annoyed of people spending their time only infront of their phonescreens. He is afraid that we see the world only through the lense and without real experience and real emotions. When he's singing at a concert, he wants the audience to turn off their phone and enjoy this moment as it is.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Hawksley Workman

Hawksley WorkmanSongwriter Interviews

One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."