[Intro: Nate Ruess] Mom, I know I let you down And though you say the days are happy Why is the power off and I'm fucked up and Mom, I know he's not around But don't you place the blame on me As you pour yourself another drink, yeah
[Hook: Nate Ruess] I guess, we are who we are Headlights shining in the dark night I drive on Maybe we took this too far
[Verse 1] I went in headfirst, never thinking about who what I said hurt In what verse, my mom probably got it the worst, the brunt of it But as stubborn as we are, did I take it too far, \"Cleaning Out My Closet\" And all them other songs, but regardless I don't hate you Cause ma, you're still beautiful to me, cause you're my mom Though far be it for you to be too calm, our house was Vietnam Desert Storm and both of us put together could form an atomic bomb Equivalent to Chemical Warfare and forever we could drag this on and on But, agree to disagree, that gift for me up under the Christmas tree Don't mean shit to me, you're kicking me out? It's 15 degrees and It's Christmas Eve, \"Little prick, just leave,\" ma, let me grab my fucking coat Anything to have each other's goats, why we always at each others throats 'specially when dad, he fucked us both, we're in the same fucking boat You'd think that'd make us close, further away it drove us, but together Headlights shine, and a car full of belongings Still got a ways to go back to grandma's house, it's straight up the road And I was the man of the house, the oldest, so my shoulders carried The weight of the load, then Nate got taken away by the state at 8-years-old And that's when I realized you were sick and it wasn't fixable or changeable And to this day we remain estranged and I hate it though, but...
[Hook]
[Verse 2] Cause to this day we remain estranged and I hate it though Cause you ain't even get to witness your grandbabies grow But I'm sorry momma for \"Cleaning Out My Closet,\" at the time I was angry Rightfully, maybe so, never meant that far to take it though Cause, now I know it's not your fault and I'm not making jokes That song I'll no longer play at shows and I cringe every time it's on the radio And I think of Nathan being placed in a home And all the medicine you fed us and how I just wanted you to taste your own But now the medication's taking over And your mental state's deteriorating slow and I'm way too old to cry The shit is painful though but ma, I forgive you, so does Nathan, yo All you did, all you said, you did your best to raise us both Foster care, that cross you bear, few may be as heavy as yours But I love you, Debbie Mathers, oh, what a tangled web we have Cause, one thing I never asked was where the fuck my deadbeat dad was Fuck it, I guess he had trouble keeping up with every address But I'd have flipped every mattress, every rock and desert cactus Owned a collection of maps and followed my kids to the edge of the atlas If someone ever moved 'em from me, that you could've bet your asses If I had to come down the chimney dressed as Santa, kidnap 'em And although one has only met their grandma, once you pulled up In our drive one night, as we were leaving to get some hamburgers Me, her and Nate, we introduced you, hugged you And as you left I had this overwhelming sadness Come over me as we pulled off to go our separate paths And I saw your headlights as I looked back and I'm mad I didn't get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad So mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote this on the jet, I guess I had to get this off my chest, I hope I get the chance to lay it 'fore I'm dead The stewardess said to fasten my seatbelt, I guess we're crashing So if I'm not dreaming, I hope you get this message Th