There's a world outside that I never knew
Far from the streets and what I thought was true
Everything you run from will catch up to you
There's a world outside

Shell of a factory in the center of town
Smell of the oil and the squish of the ground
I followed the train tracks hoping to be found
I was just a kid, I was just a kid

Dad had enough when I tattooed up my arms
I got busted for fighting, pulling fire alarms
Now I work as a cashier at the Cumberland Farms
But I'll get out of it, I'll get out of it

I hit that straightaway at seventy five
Out past the grave stones on Fitzgerald drive
I never fit in and I never knew why
I tried to never see, what would become of me

The wind is blowing and the sun is low
These streets are burning in the afterglow
They'll grab your ankles and they won't let go
They'll keep you safe inside, oh safe inside

Oh teacher won't you leave my brother alone
It's hard enough with all the problems at home
His step-mom's a drunk she disconnected the phone
And now I'm all he's got, I'm all he's got

Set me free
Set me free

I am the axles coming loose from the train
The preacher kneeling in the mud and the rain
The sound of your voice and the scream of your name
I am the kitchen light when your parents fight

Percoset mothers in their Revlon disguise
Dead-in-the-water look still in their eyes
With penciled eyebrows of permanent surprise
How in the world were they once little girls

Sins of the father will be carried upon
Down to the river and down to the pond
New ones will come after the old ones are gone
Will you carry them, can you carry them

We keep the brightest things so deep in the dark
They map the corners of our curious heart
They make us whole and then they tear us apart
Is that called growing up or is that giving in

Set me free
Set me free

Set me free
Set me free

I've been sober since you last came to town
Back before they shut the factory down
We're getting older, i'm glad to see you around
I've got a little girl, I plan to make her proud

The years have gone and all I see
Is the shell of a man that I was trying to be
Was I walking these streets or were they walking me
Did they pull me in to their water deep

We ran so fast into the undertow
We filled our lungs with what we found below
That same old story that we all will know
One that never changes, it never changes

Drive ways, barber shops, daughters and sons
nickel and dimes, sleeping pills, TV reruns
The summer breeze, first kiss, the quiet sound
The police, the troubled kids, the college bound

All the wrong you've ever done and all of the right
A dark and blissful heartache that visits you each night
There's a world outside that you always knew
Will you carry it for them, like they carried it for you

Set me free
Set me free