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Hear the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome and all of this sorrow
See the new Pyramids down in old Manhattan
From the roof of a friend I watched an empire ending
Heard it loud and long, the river's song
Time marching on, to a mad man's drum
Don't forget what you've learned
All you give is returned
And if life seems absurd
What you need is some laughter
And a season to sleep
And a place to get clean
Maybe Los Angeles
Somewhere no one's expecting
On a detox walk
Over Glendale Park
Over sidewalk chalk
Some rope read "start over"
So I muffle my scream
On an Oxnard beach
Full of fever dreams that scare me sober
Into saltless dinners
Take the fruit from the tree, break the skin with your teeth
Is it bitter or sweet all depends on your timing
Like a meeting of chance
With the train station glance
Many lifetimes have passed in a instant reminded
Of a millstone house in a seaside town
When your heart gave out in a mission bed
So your wife gave birth to a funeral dirge
You woke up purged as a wailing infant
In Krug Thep, Thailand
Hear the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome and our joy and our sorrow
It is older than Rome and all of this sorrow
See the new Pyramids down in old Manhattan
From the roof of a friend I watched an empire ending
Heard it loud and long, the river's song
Time marching on, to a mad man's drum
Don't forget what you've learned
All you give is returned
And if life seems absurd
What you need is some laughter
And a season to sleep
And a place to get clean
Maybe Los Angeles
Somewhere no one's expecting
On a detox walk
Over Glendale Park
Over sidewalk chalk
Some rope read "start over"
So I muffle my scream
On an Oxnard beach
Full of fever dreams that scare me sober
Into saltless dinners
Take the fruit from the tree, break the skin with your teeth
Is it bitter or sweet all depends on your timing
Like a meeting of chance
With the train station glance
Many lifetimes have passed in a instant reminded
Of a millstone house in a seaside town
When your heart gave out in a mission bed
So your wife gave birth to a funeral dirge
You woke up purged as a wailing infant
In Krug Thep, Thailand
Hear the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome and our joy and our sorrow
Lyrics submitted by jeff_cassadaga, edited by kmacp
Cleanse Song Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this is my favorite song these days. "what you need is some laughter, and a season to sleep, and a place to get clean" - it's so sweet to hear him sing like this, being kind to himself instead of self-loathing. he's said that he left cassadaga feeling really peaceful, which makes me wonder if that feeling inspired the orchestrations for this - the flute and the oboe are so different from what he'd used before (and what he's used since). i feel like the oboe kind of has a sweet-sorrow sound, and the flute is so graceful, which makes them work so beautifully with the line "here the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows, it is older than rome, and our joy, and our sorrow." mentioning the chimes kind of gives me the image of him standing on some porch listening to the windchimes and thinking through all this and kind of stopping to take a breath while he has this moment of clarity. so beautiful. so perfect.