I Must Belong Somewhere

**I Must Belong Somewhere** is the twelfth song on the Bright Eyes album Cassadaga.

## Lyrics

Leave the bright blue door on the whitewashed wall

Leave the death ledger under City Hall

Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today

Just leave the lilac print on the linen sheet

Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet

Let the sideways rain in the crooked street remain

Leave the whimpering dog in his cold kennel

Leave the dead starlet on her pedestal

Leave the acid kids in their green fishbowls today

Leave the sad guitar in its hardshell case

Leave that worried look on your lover's face

Let the orange embers in the fireplace remain

'Cause everything it must belong somewhere

A train off in the distance, bicycle chained to the stairs

Everything it must belong somewhere

I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell

Leave the widower in his private hell

Leave the liberty in that broken bell today

Just leave the epic poem on its yellowed page

Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage

Let the traveling band on the interstate remain

'Cause everything it must belong somewhere

Sound stage in California, televisions in Times Square

Yeah, everything it must belong somewhere

I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Well, I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Leave the secret talks on the trundle bed

Leave the garden tools in that rusted shed

Leave those bad ideas in your troubled head today

Just leave the restless ghost in his old hotel

Leave the homeless man out in that cardboard cell

Let the painted horse on the carousel remain

'Cause everything it must belong somewhere

Just like the gold around her finger or the silver in his hair

Yeah, everything it must belong somewhere

I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Oh, I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

In truth the forest hears each sound

Each blade of grass as it lies down

The world requires no audience

No witnesses, no witnesses

Leave the old town drunk on his wooden stool

Leave the autumn leaves in their swimming pool

Leave the poor black child in his crumbling school today

Leave the novelist in his daydream tomb

Leave the scientist in her Rubik's cube

Let the true genius in the padded room remain

Leave the horse's hair on the slanted bow

Leave the slot machines on the riverboat

Leave the cauliflower in the casserole today

Just leave the hot bright trash in the shopping malls

Leave the hawks of war in their capitols

Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain

'Cause everything it must belong somewhere

They locked the Devil in the basement, threw God up into the air

Yeah, everything it must belong somewhere

You know it's true, I wish you'd leave me here

Now you know it's true, why don't you leave me here?

## Credits

* Conor Oberst - voice, guitar
* Mike Mogis - mandolin, dobro
* Nate Walcott - organ
* Stefanie Drootin - bass
* Jason Boesel - drums
* David Rawlings - guitar
* Jake Bellows - voice

## Comments from Bright Eyes

* “That song was written at the height of an intense panic attack. I was in this sort of creepy German hotel room freaking out and I couldn't get my heart to slow down, I couldn't catch my breath. I calmed down by listing everything I could think of and its place in the world -- not where I designed it to be, but where it is. 'Why don't you leave me here?' is the idea that sometimes you have to sit still and be where you are regardless of any expectations or plans you might have made or things people want you to do for any reason. It's about being content in your own skin." It's a theme that sums up the entire record -- a search for peace of mind, something that Oberst says he needs. "It's a search for contentment, which is what I'm always looking for, until I get it, then I want out, I want chaos." (The Omaha Reader interview)
* "It's just a long list of... things and I guess it's good to find your place in the world, wherever that is." (Track by track Cassadaga)

## Sources

**B-sides:** "Reinvent the Wheel" • "Smoke Without Fire" • "Stray Dog Freedom" • "Cartoon Blues" • "Tourist Trap" • "Endless Entertainment" • "Susan Miller Rag"