I'm buckling my seat belt, plug my headset in a chair And to the music, I watch flight attendants move They are pointing out the exits, but it looks more like a prayer Or an ancient dance their bloodline reaches through These planes are built for sifting through the warriors from the men I've got time to sit and watch them for a while You can see everywhere they're going, everywhere they've been And how they look out at the clouds each time they smile And I think, maybe he's in town for someone's birthday Maybe he makes trouble everywhere But as much he resists the conversation between the rivers and the freeways He knows it's always there As the northwest passage sits somewhere below me as I sleep I dream of captains and explorers eating boots When I ask if I can join them and they offer one to me I wake up as my home comes into view So I reach out down for my notebook to see what impressions could be spun But it's just buildings and a million swimming pools So I leaf back through the pages to see where I am from Or for some crumbling map of what it's leading to And I find that the hero in this song that I am writing Doesn't know he's just an image of myself But as much he resists the conversation between the rivers and the freeways He's somehow always asking them for help I want to make out all the signs I've been ignoring How the trees reach for the sky or in the length of someone's hair 'Cause when you don't know where you are going Any road will take you there So maybe I'm in town for someone's birthday Maybe I make trouble everywhere But as much I resist the conversation between the rivers and the freeways I know it's always there