I spend my hours doing alchemy
I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green
Prosaic practice of depravity
Suspending innocents above their disbelief
I wish that I could paint a pretty picture onto everything
And leave a mark upon the world that felt like anything
But maybe that's the essence of an artist and their legacy
Just chasing down a sense of infamy
Put brush to canvas with a pirouette
A simple motion makes the consequence intricate
All the little nothings and my parapet
I hope it's something that you don't forget
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
I can make autumn from a single leaf
Steal a fine picture like a first class thief
Make the water work like you won't believe
Find a new world that can set you free
How could anybody ever live like me
I spend my hours doing alchemy
I make a life refining zinc inside the smeltery
It's not exactly where I want to be
But wanting doesn't matter when there's mouths to feed
I wish that I could paint a pretty picture of a fantasy
And turn a feeling to a living for my family
Instead I make the metals in the pigments in my reverie
And maybe that can be enough for me
Oh, isn't it funny facing destiny
It's like a knife inside twisting my arteries
God, I want for nothing but identity
I think that something might be wrong with me
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
Antegrade fever, 101 degrees
Shatter my body with a gentle breeze
Dammit, I am real and I have my dreams
Watch me burn brighter 'til I fail to breathe
How could anybody ever live like me
Baby, do you know what it's like to die
To see the sparkle fade from inside your eye
I can't remember what it's like to feel autonomy
Can't even feel it in the moments that you left to me
I don't wanna leave with a work undone
The paint can barely dry 'fore it fills my lungs
I keep a bullet in the chamber, mocking me
But I don't wanna feel it coming out of me
I don't want-
I spend my hours doing alchemy
I mix my yellows and my blues to make a shade of green
Chasing impossible philosophy
And hoping that this poison ain't the death of me
Cadmium red is the ground beneath
Cadmium orange, everything I see
Cadmium yellow is the air I breathe
Cadmium colors painted inside me
I can make autumn from a single leaf
Steal a fine picture like a first class thief
Make the water work like you won't believe
Find a new world that can set you free
How could anybody ever live like-
Baby, do you know what you wanna hear
'Cause you can say the word, make it oh so clear
We're all just searching for a sense of solidarity
To hold each other close and confiscate our destiny
No one wants to leave with a work undone
We only need a brush we can pass along
I kept a bullet in the chamber for a rainy day
But what's the point in planning for it anyway
I've got too many colors for a shade of grey
And I can make it Autumn every single day