[Intro]
Cigarette smoke dances back in the window
And I can see the haze on the dome light
I’m conjuring ghosts on a forty-hour ride home
And they keep asking me what I’m doing with my life
While my cousins go to bed with their wives
I’m feeling like I've fallen behind

[Verse 1]
Well, the highway won
I’m listening to traffic reports one on one
Coming quietly undone
I was born to run
Away from anything good
An escape artist's son
Sun-drenched pavement in my blood
The first thing that I do when I walk in
Is find a way out for when shit gets bad, and

[Chorus]
I’ve been looking for
Tears in the screen door (Tears in the screen door)
I’ve been waiting for
Another disaster (Another disaster)

[Verse 2]
Well I’m terrified
Like a kid in the sixties
Staring at the sky
Waiting for the bomb to fall
And it’s all a lie
What they say about stability
It scares me sometimes
The emptiness I see in my eyes
And all the kids' names I’ve ever liked
Are tied to tragedy
And I don’t want my children growing up to be
Anything like me
[Chorus]
I’ve been looking for
Tears in the screen door (Tears in the screen door)
I’ve been waiting for
Another disaster (Another disaster)
And I was kinda hoping you'd stay
I was kinda hoping you'd stay

[Bridge]
I keep a flashlight
And a small knife
In the corner of my bed stand
I keep a flashlight
And the train times
But you wouldn't understand
How could you understand?
Jesus Christ, I’m twenty-six
All the people I graduated with
All have kids
All have wives
All have people who care if they come home at night
Well, Jesus Christ, did I fuck up?

[Chorus]
I’ve been looking for
Tears in the screen door (Tears in the screen door)
I’ve been waiting for
Another disaster (Another disaster)
And I was kinda hoping you'd stay
I was kinda hoping you'd stay
I was kinda hoping you'd stay