Vampire Weekend - Father of The Bride Album Lyrics

[Ezra Koenig]
I know the reason why you think you gotta leave
Promises of future glory don't make a case for me
I did my best and all the rest is hidden by the clouds
I can't carry you forever, but I can hold you now

Leaving on your wedding day, all calm and dressed in white
All I'll keep's the memory of one last crooked night
The pews are getting filled up, the organ's playing loud
I can't carry you forever, but I can hold you now
Alright

[Choir]
God, yu tekem laef blong mi*
Mi mi givim nao long yu
Bak mi giv evride
Blong leftemap nem blong yu

[Danielle Haim]
I know the reason why you think I oughta stay
Funny how you're telling me on my wedding day
Crying in those rumpled sheets like someone's 'bout to die
You just watch your mouth when talking 'bout the father of the bride

Why's your heart grown heavy, boy, when things were feeling light?
Turning this June morning into some dark judgment night
This ain't the end of nothing much, it's just another round
I can't carry you forever, but I can hold you now

[Choir]
God, yu tekem laef blong mi
Mi mi givim nao long yu
Bak mi giv evride
Blong leftemap nem blong yu

[Ezra Koenig]
Alright

(*a Melanesian choral song performed by the Choir of All Saints from Honiara.
Translated from Solomon Pidjin (the native language of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific:
God, take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to The;
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love)

We took a vow in summertime
Now we find ourselves in late December
I believe that New Year's Eve
Will be the perfect time for their great surrender
But they don't remember

Anger wants a voice, voices wanna sing
Singers harmonize 'til they can't hear anything
I thought that I was free from all that questionin'
But every time a problem ends, another one begins


And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


Ooh, ooh, ooh
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


Within the halls of power lies a nervous heart that beats
Like a Young Pretender's
Beneath these velvet gloves I hide
The shameful, crooked hands of a moneylender
'Cause I still remember

Anger wants a voice, voices wanna sing
Singers harmonize 'til they can't hear anything
I thought that I was free from all that questionin'
But every time a problem ends, another one begins


And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


Ooh, ooh, ooh
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die

[Instrumental Bridge]


And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


Ooh, ooh, ooh
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die


And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified
I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die

No time to discuss it
Can't speak when the waves reach our house upon the dunes
Time cannot be trusted
When the police come, they always come too soon
Life felt like heaven today
Like a foreign car, though, we are American-made
I thought I'd probably stay
But before I know it, I know it

My Christian heart cannot withstand
The thundering arena
I'll see you when the violence ends
For now, ciao ciao, Bambina

No signs of injustice
No signs, but the flames that are filling up the room
Fire cannot be trusted
When the engines come, they always come too soon

My Christian heart cannot withstand
The thundering arena
I'll see you when the violence ends
For now, ciao ciao, Bambina
My Christian heart cannot withstand
The thundering arena
I'll see you when the violence ends
For now, ciao ciao, Bambina

Uh, to an extent, yeah

Big blue, for once in my life, I felt close to you
I was so overcome with emotion
When I was hurt and in need of affection
When I was tired and I couldn't go home
Then you offered protection
So am I learning my lesson?
Or am I back on my own?


Big blue, for once in my life, I felt close to you
I was so overcome with emotion
When I was hurt and in need of affection
When I was tired and I couldn't go home
Then you offered protection
So am I learning my lesson?
Or am I back on my own?


Big blue, for once in my life, I felt close to you
I was so overcome with emotion
When I was hurt and in need of affection
When I was tired and I couldn't go home
Then you offered protection
So am I learning my lesson?
Or am I back on my own?


Big blue, for once in my life, I felt close to you
I was so overcome with emotion
When I was hurt and in need of affection
When I was tired and I couldn't go home
Then you offered protection
So am I learning my lesson?
Or am I back on my own?

Tough choice? Don't make me laugh
My life's a joke, your life's a gas
You broke my heart at midnight mass
Now I'm the ghost of Christmas past
The only choice you gave to me
Is one I took reluctantly
'Cause when we play democracy
You always take immunity

[Chorus]
How long 'til we sink to the bottom of the sea?
How long, how long?
How long 'til we sink and it's only you and me?
How long, how long?

[Post-Chorus]
How long? (La-la-la-la-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la-la)

[Verse 2]
What's the point of getting clean?
You'll wear the same old dirty jeans
What's the point of being seen?
Those eyes are cruel, those eyes are mean
What's the point of human beings?
A Sharpie face on tangerines
Why's it felt like Halloween since Christmas 2017?

[Chorus]
How long?
How long, how long?
How long 'til we sink and it's only you and me?
How long, how long?

[Post-Chorus]
How long? (La-la-la-la-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la-la-la-la)
How long? (La-la-la-la-la)

[Verse 3]
Getting to the top
Wasn't supposed to be this hard
The house is on Mulholland Drive
The car's on Sunset Boulevard
The registration's here with me
But neither of us has the key
We can live down in the flats
The hills will fall eventually

[Chorus]
How long 'til we sink to the bottom of the sea?
How long, how long?
How long 'til we sink and it's only you and me?
How long, how long?

Baby, I love you
But that's not enough
And pulling away has been unbearably buff
I ran up the mountain
Out of your sight
The snow on the peak was just unbearably white
The city was freezing
An elegant floe
The wind at the doorway was unbearably cold
You walked to the bedroom
And sat down to write
The page in your notebook was unbearably white

There's an avalanche coming
Don't cover your eyes
It's what you thought that you wanted
It's still a surprise
It's hard on the body
It's hard on the mind
To learn what kept us together, darling
Is what kept us alive

Sooner or later
The story gets told
To tell it myself would be unbearably bold
Presented with darkness
We turn to the light
Could've been smart, we're just unbearably bright

There's an avalanche coming
Don't cover your eyes
It's what you thought that you wanted
It's still a surprise
It's hard on the body
It's hard on the mind
To learn what kept us together, darling
Is what kept us alive

Call it a day
Call it a night
Calloused and cold
And just unbearably white
Call it a day
Call it a night
Calloused and cold
And just unbearably white
Call it a day
Call it a night
Calloused and cold
And just unbearably white

Baby, I love you
But that's not enough
And pulling away has been unbearably buff
I ran up the mountain
Out of your sight
The snow on the peak was just unbearably white

Call it a day
Call it a night
Careless and cold
And just unbearably white
Call it a day
Call it a night

When I was young, I was told I'd find
One rich man in ten has a satisfied mind
And I'm the one

100 to one says I wouldn't react
But I'm the 1 in 100 who would swing right back
Yes, I'm the one

Thousands of steps and staircases to climb
Thousands of men you'd most likely decline
And yet I'm the one

10,000 to 1, could I possibly bet?
I'm compelled by your love and I haven't lost yet
Clearly, you're the one

One in a million don't mean what it meant
And these millions of gold coins don't gleam when they're spent
You're left with none

Ten million dollars could win the whole lot
But if ten million dollars is all that you got
You won't be the one

Hundreds of millions of papers to sign
Hundreds of millions of souls left behind
And yet, we're the ones

A billion to one, don't the odds make you sick?
To be one in a billion's a terrible trick
You're the wretched one

When I was young, I was told I'd find
One rich man in ten has a satisfied mind
And I'm the one

[Ezra Koenig]
Something's happening in the country
And the government's to blame
We got married in a gold rush
And the rush has never felt the same

[Danielle Haim]
Shared a moment in a café
Shared a kiss in pouring rain
We got married in a gold rush
And the sight of gold will always bring me pain

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
I don't wanna hear the rumors, please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
Hanging gardens turned to desert
All that loving turned to hate
We got married in a gold rush
And those wedding bells were ringing out our fate

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
The rush is on to somewhere else, we're running out of time
Everything was ours, now it's just an empty mine
Animals don't understand the words on the danger sign
For them, it's just some shade from the morning shine
I thought you might learn the language
I thought you might learn to sing
We were born before the gold rush
So why can't I remember anything?
I want to put things back together
I wanna give, I don't wanna take
Time to disavow the gold rush
And the bitterness that's flourished in its wake

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
Please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
Please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

Skin under sun
Summer breeze, summer break
Oh, I was young then
Hadn't made my mistake
Unaware of the fall
Unaware of my fate
There was peace in the valley
'Til I made my mistake


Quick in the night
As the storm took its shape
Caught at the border
As I made my escape
It was cold, it was dark
You were cruel, you were fake
Hoping for kindness
Was my greatest mistake


I was young then
Hadn't made my mistake
There was choice to get out
Or remain in this state
There was springtime and future
'Til I made my mistake


Quick in the night
As the storm took its shape
Caught at the border
As I made my escape
It was cold, it was dark
I was foolish and lame
Hoping for kindness
Was my greatest mistake

[Steve Lacy]
I think I take myself too serious
It's not that serious

[Ezra Koenig]
Alone in someone's bedroom, she firmly took my hand
The isolation ended, I began to understand
In the ping-pong match of constant desire
I was never gonna get ahead
'Cause I was looking in the mirror

Now we've got that sympathy
What I'm to you, you are to me
Let's go

Judeo-Christianity, I'd never heard the words
Enemies for centuries, until there was a third
In the ping-pong match of constant desire
I was never gonna get ahead
'Cause I was looking in the mirror

Now we've got that sympathy
What I'm to you, you are to me
Let's go

Diego Garcia, surrounded by the waves
Lonely in the ocean, but in every other way
It was full of love
In the warmest fellow-feeling

Now we've got that sympathy
What I'm to you, you are to me
Let's go

I didn't have your sympathy, but I knew where to start
Explaining to you patiently that the one who broke my heart
Would have broken yours
And thrown the pieces in the river

Now we've got that sympathy
What I'm to you, you are to me
Let's go

Sympa—
Sympa—
Let's go
Sympa—
Let's go
Sympa—
Let's go
Sympa—

Desperate for an enemy, but too afraid to kill
Use the pain of someone else and triumph for their will
And spill the blood
Of the arrogant mosquitoes

Now we've got that sympathy
What I'm to you, you are to me
Let's go

Sunflower in the morning
Standing in the garden
All before you wake
No power can compel you
Out into the daylight
Let that evil wait

Strange thought upon the pillow
"What day demands a date?"
Well I don't know

Sunflower in the evening
Standing in the garden
Taking up that space
No power can compel me
Back into the daylight
Let that evil wait

Strange thought upon the pillow
"What day demands a date?"
Well I don't know

[Ezra Koenig]
Something's happening in the country
And the government's to blame
We got married in a gold rush
And the rush has never felt the same

[Danielle Haim]
Shared a moment in a café
Shared a kiss in pouring rain
We got married in a gold rush
And the sight of gold will always bring me pain

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
I don't wanna hear the rumors, please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
Hanging gardens turned to desert
All that loving turned to hate
We got married in a gold rush
And those wedding bells were ringing out our fate

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
The rush is on to somewhere else, we're running out of time
Everything was ours, now it's just an empty mine
Animals don't understand the words on the danger sign
For them, it's just some shade from the morning shine
I thought you might learn the language
I thought you might learn to sing
We were born before the gold rush
So why can't I remember anything?
I want to put things back together
I wanna give, I don't wanna take
Time to disavow the gold rush
And the bitterness that's flourished in its wake

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
Please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down
I don't wanna hear the rumours, please don't say it loud
Please don't say it loud
I just wanna go out tonight and make my baby proud
Boy, who's your baby?
Girl, if you don't know by now
There's two seats on the midnight train
The gold won't weigh us down

[Jenny Lewis]
Boy, boy

[Ezra Koenig & Jenny Lewis]
2021, will you think about me?
I could wait a year, but I shouldn't wait three (Boy)
I don't wanna be (Boy)
2021, will you think about us?
Copper goes green, steel beams go rust (Boy)
It's a matter of (Boy)

[Jenny Lewis]
Boy, boy
Boy, boy

[Ezra Koenig & Jenny Lewis]
2021, will you think about me?
I could wait a year, but I couldn't wait three (Boy)
I don't wanna be (Boy)
2021, will you think about us?
Copper goes green, steel beams go rust (Boy)
It's a matter of (Boy)

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We go together like sound and sight
Black and white, day and night
We go together like left and right
Oh, we go together
We go together like give and take
Pains and aches, real and fake
We go together, don't be opaque
It's clear we go together

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We belong together
We belong together
Baby, there's no use in being clever
Baby, it don't mean we'll stay together

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
We go together like pots and pans
Surf and sand, bottles and cans
We go together like lions and lambs
Oh, we go together
We go together like Keats and Yeats
Bowls and plates, days and dates
We stay united like these old states
It's how we go together

[Ezra Koenig, Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We belong together
We belong together
Baby, there's no use in being clever
Baby, it don't mean we'll stay together

[Ezra Koenig]
Hallelujah, you're still mine
All I did was waste your time
If there's not some grand design
How'd this pair of stars align?

I-I-I, things have never been stranger
I-I-I, things are gonna stay strange
I-I-I, I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I, but things change


Another night indoors, another sign of life-ife
Wobbling up through the floor
You and Kidada
Ooh, I might get low, low, low
But now I'm too high to know
The sound of you and your sister
I couldn't face these days alone
You got the right light, candles burning
We don't need the moon anymore
I used to look for an answer
I used to knock on every door
But you got the wave on, music playing
Don't need to look anymore


I-I-I, things have never been stranger
I-I-I, things are gonna stay strange
I-I-I, I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I, but things change


You and Kidada
Ooh, the lights get low, low, low
And I got nowhere to go
I used to freeze on the dance floor
I watched the icebergs from the shore
But you got the heat on, kettle screaming
Don't need to freeze anymore


I-I-I, things have never been stranger
I-I-I, things are gonna stay strange
I-I-I, I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I, but things change


Who knows the reason that kindness lost its hold?
Those better angels confined to minor roles
I left the wilding, wilding, wilding days of old
Your house is warmer the wilderness is cold


Things have never been stranger
Things are gonna stay strange
I-I-I, I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I, but things change
Things have never been stranger
Things are gonna stay strange
I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I, but things change


Ooh
Things have never been stranger (Ooh)
Things are gonna stay strange (Ooh)
I remember life as a stranger
I-I-I

The snow fell last night
Your flight couldn't leave
Come back to the bed
Let's take this reprieve
It felt like the end
The end's been delayed
You're here in my arms
So what should I say?


The words of a song
The prayers that we pray
The lock on the door
Won't keep them away
The snow slows them down
If just for a a day
But here comes the sun
Those toxic old rays


Trains start to move
Bells start to ring
The seasons we had
Don't mean anything


Trains start moving
Bells start to ring
The seasons we had
Don't mean anything

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We go together like sound and sight
Black and white, day and night
We go together like left and right
Oh, we go together
We go together like give and take
Pains and aches, real and fake
We go together, don't be opaque
It's clear we go together

[Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We belong together
We belong together
Baby, there's no use in being clever
Baby, it don't mean we'll stay together

[Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim & Both]
We go together like pots and pans
Surf and sand, bottles and cans
We go together like lions and lambs
Oh, we go together
We go together like Keats and Yeats
Bowls and plates, days and dates
We stay united like these old states
It's how we go together

[Ezra Koenig, Ezra Koenig & Danielle Haim]
We belong together
We belong together
Baby, there's no use in being clever
Baby, it don't mean we'll stay together

[Ezra Koenig]
Hallelujah, you're still mine
All I did was waste your time
If there's not some grand design
How'd this pair of stars align?