When I Was a Boy I Thought I Was a Fish - The Smith Street Band

Walking back to my house the morning after the sugar cube and the heavens

opened up and drowned the heat

With the trace elements tickling my spine, I took my shoes off and danced in

puddles on the sudden downpour ghost town street

Hello, my name is Wil and I slept through the millennium but what I wouldn’t

give to be young, dreaming and ten again

It’s New Years 2009, with what’s in my system I won’t be sleeping for a long

time

And when I was a boy, I thought I was a fish and I still love the ocean like

when I was a kid

But lately I have come to the conclusion, that I’m disappointingly probably

human

And I’ve come a long way from those amphibious days and I’d like to thank the

things I’ve seen, the friends that I’ve made

All the people that have hurt me, the times that I’ve been saved and to music,

which has made me its most obliging slave

There’s blood on this guitar, there’s sweat between these keys, when I step

forward to the mic it’s with my tail between my knees

But we aren’t here to fight, we are here to dance

And then the summer crept up like only a Melbourne summer can

We ducked back in our alleys and pretended to hate our tans

And told each other one day, we’d all look back and smile

While knowing that we’ve been drinking ourselves to sleep for a long time

And now we’re back at work and we’re working on those numbers

They’re getting us in our sleep, we’re having nightmares in our slumber

About the dealers and the overheads we’re going to have to pay

Just pass out.

It’s a job for another day

And last night I kissed a girl that I met in a bar, which seems momentous given

how things are

We made out all morning then slept in the afternoon and she said, «Wil,

I think that I can deal with you.»

And I never found the right way to say thanks to Alex for keeping my head

screwed on

For telling me when I was wrong, even though I’ve known all along

It’s time to clean up, start a band, get back on the road again.

Stay sober and appreciate my friends

So I’d like to say thank you to every single one of you for everything