The Gun Song

The Gun Song is the eighth track of Nervous Young Man, and is the longest (or second longest, depending on the platform) song on the record.

due to a neil young lyric, the song had to be changed for copyright reasons, becoming what we know as "The Gun Song (No Trigger Version)".

## Lyrics

**[What Joe said]**

[Intro]

(I’m not hung up on you anymore, but here’s why I hung up)

[Verse 1]

Behind every great love story

Lies a great suicide

You can't give yourself completely

And keep the man inside

All the sentences I climbed halfway

Saw the heights of what I wanted to say

And crawled from word to word

Trying to get back down

[Verse 2]

The unending realization

That it's never gonna end

I spend half the day exhaling

And the other half holding my breath

Cause living underwater was never my strength

In the depths you reside, the sun never sinks

So let’s float to the bottom for one final drink

There’s time for one more tonight

[Verse 3]

It’s time to forget while the forgetting’s good

I’ll burn all the promises I carved out of your woulds

You said won't you come into arm's reach

Abandon your clothes and modes of speech

An infant reborn you shall be

Helpless and afraid

[Verse 4]

I’m waving goodbye every time you go to the store

I hope you break your hand the next time you slam the door

Because I burned my fingers every night

When your own shaking hands wouldn’t give you a light

And I said “Jesus Christ, my parents were right

I never should’ve smoked you out”

[Verse 5]

I’d hate to amputate this artificial limb

But staring at you, my glass eyes are growing dim

I can’t even blame you for looking so smug

I have to admit you’re a hell of a drug

So pack up the boxes, roll me up with the rug

I’m not moving out, I’m just moving

[Verse 6]

(Kissed) I kissed you, yes, but never on the mouth

(Masochist) You held the north while I conquered the south

But I don't want a territorial breach

So at the edge of the bed, we'll meet

And I want you to fuck me in your sleep

It's the only way I'll ever know that you love me

(Cause there's always gotta be a new angle)

[Verse 7]

Guns are loaded with silver bullets tonight

But it’s useless, you kept me waiting until it was light

(These things are yours)

But you can’t go out the way you came in

In the arms of someone unaware of your sins

Because I’ve been recording this whole fucking thing

Now you can never use the same chord changes again

(The first time was too fast

The second time was just sad)

[Verse 8]

If you’re wondering why I’m still willing to take the fall

If I’m not getting fucked over, I’m not getting fucked at all

But I never asked for immunity

That’s the difference between you and me

All I wanted was someone who was just like me

And I hate myself for that

[Verse 9]

It’s getting hard to talk about the past

When you’ve copyrighted the present, no questions asked

You can do whatever you want with my name

But my body’s never been public domain

So if you’re looking for somebody to blame

Blame Walt Disney Studios

[Verse 10]

I remember​ I was walking around outside, talking to you on the phone

We were both avoiding the parties we attended alone

And I looked up at the drunken moon

It was round and it was grey and it looked like the moon

And I said, “at least we’ve both got the moon”

And you said, “I’m inside”

[Verse 11]

So I’ll try loving again

And you’ll try living alone

And we’ll meet at the end of this lifetime

And compare notes

(If bitterness is all that I have left

I’ll be better at being bitter than anybody else)

**[What Joe’s Baby said]**

[Verse 12]

I hate your receptionist

She looks at me like I’m retarded

When I’m filling out your forms

I see your form behind the frosted glass

But she says that you’re not there

I’ll have to be content to wait

[Verse 13]

If you felt some kind of stirring

Against interpretation

Why write these songs at all?

Why not become didactic

Tell everyone on the planet

In plain English what you are

[Pre-Chorus]

But I am the gentle cannibal

I promise to eat you softly

You won’t notice a thing

[Chorus]

Hold me tight

You’re taking advice from Lady Macbeth

William, one shot two shots

When it’s out of your hands, you try to forget

Mariamme, hold me tight

I still wish you hadn’t listened to me

(If I could transfer your desires into belongings)

I ain’t been right since the execution

(And then snoop through your belongings, you know I’d do it in a second)

William, one shot two shots

Whoever you are, just hold me tight

I lost my love, my life, that night-

[Bridge]

All I know is, one of us was supposed to kill the other

Isn’t that what they mean when they say ‘lovers’?

But murder is dirty, and peace comes cheap

So here’s my new number, tell me when you’re free (703)

**[The Conclusion]**

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river

Down by the river

I shot my baby

I shot my baby

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river...