Three Wishes

Lyrics

[Intro]
(a lamp being set down, a puff of smoke)
Careful how you word it.

[Verse 1]
She came as the genie in the smoke and the gold,
said "I've got three wishes and they never do get old,
but I'll tell you what they don't tell you when they hand you the lamp:
the wishes aren't the problem. It's the wording. It's the trap."
Said "everybody rubs it and then everybody blurts
the first thing in their head — and honey, that's the part that hurts."

[Chorus]
Three wishes! Three wishes!
And every single one of them's a contract, not a gift.
Three wishes! Say it careful!
'Cause I grant it how you said it, not the way you meant it, friend!
Three wishes. Three wishes.
Nobody ever spends the third one. Nobody ever does.

[Verse 2]
The first wish is a mess, 'cause you weren't ready and you swung,
you asked for something huge and vague and got it, and it stung.
The second wish is fixing what the first wish tore apart,
that's the wish you spend on cleanup, that's the wish that breaks your heart.
And the third one? You just hold it. You just keep it in your pocket.
That's not a wish, that's an option, and the option's what you wanted.

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Now "rub the lamp" is doing all the work in this arrangement,
and I'd like the record noted that I made no such engagement —
the lamp's a lamp, the smoke's a smoke, the wish is what it is,
and if your mind went somewhere else, well, friend, that's your business.
Three meanings in a gesture and I only offered one.
The other two are yours. You brought 'em. They were always in the room.

[Chorus]

[Outro]
(smoke, a lid closing)
Wish carefully.
Wish specifically.
...Or just keep the lamp.