[Verse 1]

You asked me why I love you and I said "I don't know"

And I could tell that you were disappointed with that answer

So I carried on, said

"I mean, I've loved a lot of people in my life—or I thought I have

I guess I've written them all off when they leave

Or I leave them, you know because that means—doesn't it?

That means that it couldn't have been love to begin with

So why not just write it off?

Sorry that's not really answering your question

I mean I guess... I thought I was so fucking smart when you met me

When I was 23, I'd finally started to feel like a real person, you know?

A human being

Kept the kind of secrets real people keep

Told the kind of lies real people tell

And most exciting of all

I loved like I thought real people loved

Never really staying anywhere

Perpetually in the process of going somewhere

I thought I was dark and mysterious and fucking irresistible

Now I look back on 23-year-old me, I think

'Jesus Christ man, what a dick, what a leech treating relationships like an ice-cream factory, eating all I can handle and then throwing it all up and running away'

And, yeah, I'm not 23 anymore but I'm still me and what's more

I still wanna run away sometimes, a lot of times actually

In that stupid little way I do where I lock myself in my room

And I watch strangers play video games

'til my brain starts to leak all over the sofa

And I get high and I write and I sing and I hope it still sounds good when I'm sober—

Fuck sorry, you asked me a direct question"

[Verse 2]

"I guess I'm scared that I'm imaginary

That I invent myself every day so other people don't have to

That who I really am is secondary to what I want everyone else to see and I'm scared that I'm crazy

But God help me, I'm twice as scared I'm sane

'Cause then what excuse do I have for treating people like problems that need to be solved or explained?

And that's where you come in

You came along, you taught me that people cannot be explained

That we are all ghost stories at the end of the day

And maybe we should just aim to stay that way

Maybe there's a reason why we do the wonderful-horrible things we do to each other, but the reasons are too simple to be satisfying

And then we're left forgetting and re-mystifying each other

'Cause we don't really wanna understand what makes us hurt each other

No we don't really wanna understand what makes us hurt each other

No we don't really wanna understand what makes us—

Fuck sorry

I mean, I've been having a lot of trouble focusing recently

Too much aspartame in the diet, I think"

[Verse 3]

"To answer your question

I love you because I have to

There is no 'why' about it

Any more than there's a reason why water vapor gathers in the sky

Or why the nettles in the garden don't go away no matter how much the guy downstairs tries to keep them at bay

There is no 'why' about it

There is a 'how' I suppose, don't really understand it though

Maybe if I dug around a bit in the soil

I'd find out where all this love comes from and what it's for

But then the question would be answered

The ghost story would be over

There'd be very little point in telling it anymore

Right now I'm happy just to let it be

Let you be you, and me be me

Sleep 'til noon and watch TV

Make schemes together

Try not to keep secrets from each other

And just hope to God that we are right when we say

'I love you'

'I love you'

I just enjoy being around you

I don't think I'm going anywhere"