After The Fact - John Wesley Harding

There is a room that you just now walked out of

It has everything in it but you

There’s a mirror that knew what you looked like

And a door that has ruined the view

There’s a carpet depressed by your footsteps

A hallway which echoes their sound

There’s an arrow that points to the exit

And a lift that goes no further down, no further down

There’s a stage play that shows every evening

With no prompter, no plot and no lines

The actors don’t know what they’re doing

They improvise all of their lives

And the action’s all happening offstage

Where the props meet the actual things

Someone saw you with a gun in your hand

I heard the report from the wings

You say you’re leaving

When I know that you’re gone

After the fact, you’ll be back

But long after the song

If ever I try to run after

The ceiling reveals the sky

The carpet is pulled out from under

The walls disappear in the flies

Behind them, the lenses of cameras

They all want a piece of us now

The story behind the unmaking

The what and the why and the how

Excuse if I choose not to bow

You say you’re leaving

When I know that you’re gone

After the fact, you’ll be back

But long after the song is gone

After the fact, you’ll be gone

But long after the song