Kevin Devine Ballgame

A good man doesn't drink

And I've been drinking alone

So what does that make me?



My hands they always shake

And no one's calling my phone

So what does that make me?



And I know the kid with his guitar

So drunk and anxious

Has been done to death

So tell me what hasn't

I'll try it



Because I'm selfish enough to wanna get better

But I'm backwards enough not to take any steps to get there



And when you realize it's a pattern

And not a phase

It's what you've become and it's what you will say

That's ballgame



'Cause I don't got room in my life for anyone else

And I've driven away all the people that could help

And I still don't even know what I need to do to fix myself



There's a clamp around my chest

That tightens every time I lapse into

Another sorry story



About my miserable collapse

A bronze box I keep encased in glass

And dust off whenever I want pity



Because I've had to come to grips with scope and figure

How my problems stack up in a world this close to ruin

(Or maybe it's rapture)



Well, either way, I realize that my shit's about as small as it could be

But that makes me feel worse for even feeling this bad in the first place



'Cause there's a war starting soon, and all the flags'll be waving

And Daniel's 20-year-old friend will be ready, and willing, and waiting

He's a Marine and he told me



And that makes me sad

Really, really fucking sad

But at least he'll act



I'll just bite my tongue and then tell Daniel to wish him luck

And pray that he comes back

For his mother's sake, and then I'll drink those thoughts away

I've gotten good at that



And when you realize it's a pattern

And not a phase

It's what you've become and it's what you will stay

That's ballgame

Remember this in the morning