I used to sit and think about
What I would say if you would call
I got so bored, I wrote it all down
I kept notes in a shoebox, so maybe I could show you someday what I felt
I heard from everyone each day I was not well
I was not well

And then I’d start to pick apart
Your every word to find a clue
I was convinced that I could charm you in
I read notes from a shoebox, and then I put them back and closed it up again
How was I to know you’d never let me in
Let me in

Chorus:
And these words are left to die, goodbye
To this bittersweet sketchpad
It always made the ugly days all right
What I could never speak
Written down for you to read
You'll never see

Eventually I found the nerve
To try the words, you didn’t hear
I said goodbye, you didn’t bat an eye
I took notes from a shoebox, and then I set a fire
It burned the whole night through
They may have burned me down, but not as good as you
As good as you

Chorus

Our lives in flashes
I strike these matches
My words to ashes
Along with you and me