From the recording American Rome
Lyrics and Music written and produced by Scott Callahan
Lyrics
The walls here are painted a sterile, pale grey
They tell me I'm sick, but they won't let me say
How I got through the doors, how I ended up bound
In a room with no windows, where screams are the sound
I answered their questions, I gave them my name
But the paperwork says I'm the one who's to blame
The lock on the handle is heavy and cold
A story of safety that's getting damn old
And I'm trapped in the white noise, drowning in clean
A ghost in a jacket, a ghost in the machine
I yell to the ceiling, I don't belong here
But the echo just swallows my anger and fear
The keys on the belt loop go clink in the hall
An innocent prisoner behind a brick wall
The doctor comes by with a clipboard and pen
He smiles like a friend, then he asks me again
"Do you know where you are? Do you know what you did
Like my memories are secrets that I've somehow hid
I tell him I'm fine, that I just want the sun
He checks off a box and says, We've just begun
A paper cup rattles, two pills on a tray
To chemical-wash all my protests away
And I'm trapped in the white noise, drowning in clean
A ghost in a jacket, a ghost in the machine
I yell to the ceiling, I don't belong here
But the echo just swallows my anger and fear
The keys on the belt loop go clink in the hall
An innocent prisoner behind a brick wall
Step line for the vitals, step line for the feed
They don't want to listen, they just want to lead
The cameras are watching, the exit is locked
The calendars vanish, the timeline is blocked
If I act like I'm crazy, they say that I'm right
If I act like I'm sane, then I'm putting up a fight
There's no way to win when the baseline is rigged
I'm standing alive in a grave they have digged
Now I'm lost in the white noise, completely unseen
A ghost in a jacket, a ghost in the machine
I whisper to the ceiling, I don't belong here
As the heavy sedation replaces the fear
The keys on the belt loop fade down the long hall
Just another shadow left on a brick wall
They tell me I'm safe now
They tell me I'm cured
But the door didn't open