Leave the bright blue door on the whitewashed wall.
Leave the death ledger under City Hall.
Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today.

Leave the lilac print on the linen sheet.
Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet.
Let the sideways rain and the crooked street remain.

Leave the whimpering dog in his cold kennel.
Leave the dead star lit on her pedestal.
Leave the acid kids in their green fishbowls today.

Just leave the sad guitar in its hard-shelled case.
Leave the worried look on your lover's face.
Let the orange embers in the fireplace remain.

Cause everything - it must belong somewhere.
A train off in the distance; bicycle chained to the stairs.
Everything - it must belong somewhere.
I know that now - that's why I'm staying here.

Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell.
Leave the widower in his private hell.
Leave the liberty in that broken bell today.

Leave the epic poem on its yellow page.
Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage.
Let the traveling band on the interstate remain.

Cause everything - it must belong somewhere.
Soundstage in California; televisions in Times Square.
Everything - it must belong somewhere.
I know that now - that's why I'm staying here.

Leave the secret talks on the trundle bed.
Leave the garden tools in the rusted shed.
Leave those bad ideas in your troubled head today.

Leave the restless ghost in his old hotel.
Leave the homeless man in his cardboard cell.
Let the painted horse on the carousel remain.

Cause everything - it must belong somewhere.
Just like the gold around her finger or the silver in his hair.
Everything - it must belong somewhere.
I know that now - that's why I'm staying here.

In truth, the forest hears each sound - each blade of grass as it lies down.
The world requires no audience - no witnesses...no witnesses.

Leave the old town drunk on his wooden stool.
Leave the autumn leaves in the swimming pool.
Leave the poor black child in his crumbling school today.

Leave the novelist in his daydream tune.
Leave the scientist in his Rubik's Cube.
Let the true genius in the padded room remain.

Leave the horse's hair on the slanted bow.
Leave the slot machines on the river boat.
Leave the cauliflower in the casserole today.

Leave the hot, bright trash in the shopping malls.
Leave the hawks of war in their capitol.
Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain.

Cause everything - it must belong somewhere.
They locked the devil in the basement; threw God up into the air.
Everything - it must belong somewhere.
And you know it's true - I wish you'd leave me here.
You know it's true - why don't you leave me here?



Lyrics submitted by just_forget_me

"I Must Belong Somewhere" as written by Conor Oberst

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Everything Must Belong Somewhere song meanings
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33 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:"Leave the restless ghost in his old hotel
    Leave the homeless man in his cardboard cell
    Let the painted horse on the carousel remain"

    Could be a possible reference to Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, anyone else see this?
    Flag Dundasbroon July 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's a satirical look at someone trying to comfort themselves over the injustices in the world by suggesting that they are natural and all in their rightful place. When infact, they are rather negative situations that deserve attention and ultimately change. I think the song works to recognize these injustices, the emotional burden it puts on us, and how we often rationalize the situation to more easily reconcile the burden, but not the injustice.
    Flag southcrosslandon January 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think that this song is a look at modern American culture. It is my favorite off of Cassidaga, and I think that, in time, it will be regarded as wonderful, nostalgic view of America.
    Flag KINGmiduson January 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's more than everything having its place. . . i'm sure that was the plan originally. . . but i think it's also a rejection of what is "natural." i especially get this from the last verse about the devil and God, as well as the genius in the padded room. i take that as people (and spirits, i guess) are forced into roles and outcasted if they don't conform to such roles.
    Flag jesibesion December 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ToSadToGiveaFuck
    Many people with "genius" IQs (over 138), like myself, would gladly give it up to be rid of the psychiatriac disorders that plauge us

    Dude if you're such a genius, how come you can't spell the word 'plague'?
    Flag coldbludon October 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"let it be" i guess.
    everything he mentions is something that's not necessarily nice, but is natural/should be.
    and i think he's saying rather than trying to change it, just them, and him, be.

    "leave the cauliflower in the casserole" hahaha
    Flag cosmicjiveon July 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song makes me so happy it's just about that everything belongs somewhere basicly.
    Flag ---LiMeGrAvY---on July 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ALRIGHT SO THIS IS WHAT THIS SONG ABOUT


    Conor said he was in a german hotel freaking out and feeling really paranoid as if he were in a scary movie or something well he said that the only thing that could relax him was a write a list of everything and where it belongs and then he was like.. "oh fuck , i could make a song"
    Flag postmodernchrison June 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Since no one officially said it; it's "I Must Belong Somewhere" off "Cassadaga". (If you get bored, Google "Cassadaga", kind of brings the album together). Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is no "fuck with my listeners", like "An Attempt to Tip the Scales" or "Patriac My Prince". Many people with "genius" IQs (over 138), like myself, would gladly give it up to be rid of the psychiatriac disorders that plauge us (myself included) at a rate twice that of the general population. Anyone recall Ted Kazenzki, Harvard Grad and former UC Berkley Professor. Most people just know him as the Unabomber. This song has lines about religion, politics, lonliness; all of Conor's recurrent themes since he sat down with an 8 track. To me, this song is a beautifully written diary entry.
    Flag ToSadToGiveaFuckon April 28, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:conor actually said (on a lazy-I interview) he didn't write that song as sarcastic but to soothe himself with the thought that everything has a place; oh well, i still like my interpretation. after all i'm comforted by songs about the apocalypse and shit, so who am I to deny that soothing qualities of this.
    Flag dorareeveron April 05, 2007   Link

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