Asleep in the Chapel

Three chalk outlines sleep in the dirty street

And in our beds, under the sheets

They're the halo of guilt hanging round your neck

Next to the rosary, you count, falling asleep

And we're praying

These are the symptoms of letting go of all our hope

Since we can't compete with martyred saints

Douse ourselves in gasoline

And hang our bodies from the lampposts

So that our shadows turn into bright lights

White light, white heat

We'll make as we're blacking out in the center lane

(We swerve) To the beat

(Spill) All the ink

(No revision) Do you hear the church bells ringing?

Wake up, wake up in an outline

And try to speak with the shattered voice of the lives we lead

(Have we slept too long?)

Between the bullet holes in a stained-glass window state?

And we're praying

These are the symptoms of letting go of our hope

(When we repent)

And we're praying

(Fall on the page, read in the margins)

We are the symptoms of letting go of our hope

Someday we'll be complete like modern saints

Baptize our kids in gasoline

And hang our doubts up in cathedrals

So that they turn to faith in the colored sunlight

Red rain, red rain

We'll make as we're blacking out in the center lane

(We swerve) To the beat

(Spill) All the ink

(No revision) Do you hear the church bells ringing?

They ring for you

We woke up this morning to a sky with no air in it

And all the streets were filled with a thousand burning crosses

And what we thought was the sunrise

Just passing headlights

Still the choir girls sing

"Oh Lord, can you save us? Can you save us?

Oh Lord, sing hallelujah

Oh Lord, can you save us? Can you save us?

Oh Lord, sing hallelujah"

They are the symptoms of letting go of our hope

We're falling asleep with open eyes

Falling asleep inside the chapel

Falling asleep in chalk outlines

Falling asleep as the headlights pass us by