The Hold Steady
Our Whole Lives
[Verse 1]
Kids are ripping into sugar packets
Townies taking off their tavern jackets
I'm in the pews sticking bills in the basket
Praying that they're cool when I come pick up the package
Tonight we're gonna have a really good time
But I want to go to heaven on the day I die
Going to make like a preemptive strike
Hit the five thirty mass early Saturday night

[Chorus]
Ring ring ring goes the telephone
Tell my little lambs that I'm on my way home
Stop by the shop and get a bottle to go
Maybe something stronger if the right guy's on the corner
Bang bang bang goes the quarter notes
Saint Theresa told me you should rattle our bones
Now you're going off to the dial tone
Some kid started blowing on the saxophone

[Verse 2]
Cheerleaders dream of quarterbacks
Jock jills go for jumping jacks
Goth girls love the vampire bats
They wanna draw a little blood for their bath
Well, I don't go much for that spooky stuff
I like the lights and the up tempo tracks
You're damn right I believe in love
Because I've been in love and I've loved right back
[Chorus]
Bang bang bang goes the backing track
Some kid is coming around with a magic backpack
I didn't know that you could dance like that
I'm gonna have to ask that you take two steps back
Sing sing sing every song we know
Blowing out the speakers on your stereo
You finally stopped talking about that boy back home
Maybe that's just better, if you want you can sleep over

[Bridge]
We're good guys but we can't be good every night
We're good guys but we can't be good our whole lives
We're good guys but we can't be good every night
Now father I have sinned and I wanna do it all again tonight

[Verse 3]
The townies taking off their tavern jackets
Making guitars out of tennis racquets
And it's been getting so the hardest part
Is trying to talk some sense into our sparkling hearts

[Chorus]
Ring ring ring goes the telephone
Tell my little lambs that I ain't coming home
Yes, yes, yes go the majorettes
They lead the band on to the field with their cigarettes
Bang bang bang, she's a cleaning freak
She scrubs the surface until it's sparkling
Neat neat neat until her fingers bleed
She was giving off blue light on the first light that she came to me
[Bridge]
We're good guys but we can't be good every night
We're good guys but can't be good our whole lives
We're good guys but we can't be good every night
We're good guys but can't be good our whole lives

[Outro]
She was giving off blue light on the first night that she came to me
Father I have sinned, and I want to do it all again eventually