Highlighted in Tan

Lyrics, composition, and production by me.
French horn by Richard Williams.

[V1]

I'm just a simple, ordinary guy
I've got an ordinary, simple kind of life.

I'll ask a question when I don't know why
something is the way it is...

For everything I don't understand
I'll highlight it in tan.

I'll do it with tan.

Not orange, or pink, or yellow, but tan.

[V2]

How do I tell the truth
apart from the lies?

Could it be true that lies
are just the truth in disguise?

That sounds like something someone
would say if they were very wise...

So what does it say for me?

If I write it on the back of my hand
It's highlighted in tan.

Yeah, it looks kinda tan.

My skin can be approximately called tan.

(Not really, tho)

[V3]

Lately, I've wondered...
What's the point to try?

Got 15 reasons to live
and 20 million to die.

I was told to balance lows
with the occasional high...

Now, my life is crumbling.

If this was all according to plan
I should see more than tan.

Goddamnit, tan.
Shit ass tan.
Fuckin' tan.

[Pre-Bridge]

Uncertainty stirs a world within

Whirlwinds whipped it
with a bottomless spin

Soaked the bone, saturated the skin

I'll set what's left of myself free.

[Bridge]

Tan is a shadeless shade
A hue-less hue.

It's a static limbo
where there's nothing new.

It's the essence of generic
Where it's tried and untrue.

What am I to do...
...to break through?

All my life I've been trapped in plain!
Thinking colors were oh-so-vain

I've never known such taste for freedom
Beyond what's inside my mind.

Now it's time for me to breathe
A sigh of relief; the battle is over
But the war has just begun.

Still a long way to go...
At least now, I can start to grow.

[V4/Outro]

Well I found myself
a brand new lease on life.

And I up-graded perspectives
Left behind all the strife.

If someday, I should marry
I'll always carry my wife.

So she'll never skip a beat.

And also, so she'll never hurt her feet.

I'll do the very best that I can
...now that my best is better than tan.