Schmaltz Lyrics

They deployed the cameras, and the world turned kind

It's easy to be a saint when you got them judging all the time

They wore their masks for hiding, we wore our own for showing

And at 12:01 on New Year's morning, by God, it started snowing



Remember when we weren't thinking, honey,

Of consequences, of hidden fences, but everything but?



They hid the truth until the truth turned pretty, then told it every chance they got

Like playing cards at a filthy bar where the frescos tell of Camelot

They studied dictionaries while we read obituaries

Severed tales of ups and downs, neighbors we never cared about



Remember when we were jaded, honey?

We moved like distant globes, and we always came around



They found one facedown in the gutter with whiskey in his veins

He slept for days and days and days until they tucked him in to stay

With discount ink on ragged paper, creased up at the fold

We wrote a letter with bloody prints, he was more than 54 years old



Remember when we were outraged, honey?

We'd pull the car into a parking lot and sort things out



A flutter in the eye of the stranger in the casket

As the sound of youth jingled around the room

It mocked our civil decency, and sent us back home thinking

About forgetting all our deadlines, at least for a day or two



But we returned to yelling mindless insults sealed by rubber grips

And we plotted the death of the man across the hall

We dulled our senses and forced pretension, cursing petty things

But sharpened words spoken out of turn did nothing to the government



Remember when we were drifting, honey,

Away from walks and dismal talks about who was better off?



Remember when we were happy, honey?

Neither do I