Time Is a Flat Circle of Panic

Lyrics

[Intro]
I hear it in the woodwork, I feel it in my pulse
The quiet little motor of the ending of it all

[Verse 1]
There’s a Braun desk clock from 1987 by the bed
It doesn’t make a sound, but it’s pounding out a threat
Sweeping up the seconds like dust across the wood
I had a pocketful of morning, now they say it's gone for good
Every grain of sand is slipping through the narrow little glass
Staring at the future while it turns into the past

[Chorus]
Oh, time is a flat circle of panic
A carousel that’s spinning off its gear
I’m clinging to the mattress like a manic
Trying to stretch a minute to a year
Just twelve polite little digits standing in a ring
But God, the way they circle, it’s a terrifying thing

[Verse 2]
They tell me I should savor it, be present in the room
But the present is a taxi that is leaving way too soon
I take a heavy lungful of now, I hold it in my chest
And by the time I let it go, there's nothing of it left
We try to save the daylight, turn the hands back in the fall
But the shadows keep on stretching, and the bell begins to toll

[Chorus]
‘Cause time is a flat circle of panic
A carousel that’s spinning off its gear
I’m clinging to the mattress like a manic
Trying to stretch a minute to a year
Just twelve polite little digits standing in a ring
But God, the way they circle, it’s a terrifying thing

[Bridge]
Here’s the wicked joke, the bitter in the sweet
If the hourglass was frozen, it’s a prize we couldn't keep
We only taste the vintage ‘cause the bottle’s running dry
The terror of the leaving is the only reason why

[Outro]
So let the circle spin, let the panic take its lap
I’m trapped inside the rhythm, but I wouldn't break the trap
Watch the sweeping hand go sweeping past the nine
I really thought I had a little more...
Well.