[= Hospitalized =]
Sister's in the psycho ward
and when I visit, I glance toward
the other patients' twisted faces,
quaking fingers,
frightened eyes,
wishing I could somehow break her out of here...
Then Sister starts to scream at Mother,
telling her how much she hates her,
begging her to stop the voices
chattering inside her skull.
I'm feeling sick,
the air's too thick...
Suddenly I'm running, Stumbling,
Sister's demons chasing after,
leering, laughing,
right behind me
lurching at my heels
remind me:
I could of been the one.
Run, Sister, run!
[= Questions =]
When my friends ask where she is,
I tell them
She's in the hospital.
When they ask why,
I shrug
and say she's sick.
When they ask what kind of sick,
My cheeks flame up
and I change the subject.
[= What it's like =]
When I arrive
she's on all fours
rocking back and forth,
wearing a blouse over her nightgown.
Leaping up
she pulls the curtains open
to show me her veiw.
Staring past the bars on her window,
she shudders
and yanks the curtains shut.
Whipping around,
she points to the mirror,
shrouded with a sheet.
"I had to, Cookie,"
she says with a quick laugh.
"I didn't look like me."
Then she freezes
with hands outstretched,
like rabbits freeze when danger's near,
and all at once
she throws herself into a chair.
She says this chair
controls the room
and all her thoughts
and all mine, too.
I don't
know what
to say.
She catches me checking my watch
and glares at me,
hissing, "Don't run away so fast."
But I stand up.
And when we hug goodbye,
neither of us
wants to let go.
[= At lunch =]
Everybody's sitting around telling jokes.
I haven't giggled this much
in ages.
Then Kate says, "Okay. Okay. I've got one:
Which path does the mental patient take
to get through the forest?"
And they all ask, "Which path?"
and Kate says, "The psycho path!"
and everyone burst out laughing,
Except me.
[= The phone rings =]
It's my sister.
She tells me
that she'll talk to me as long as she likes.
That no one can stop her.
That no one would dare.
She tells me
that the telephone's on fire
but I shouldn't worry because it doesn't hurt.
She tells me that when i'm ninteen, like her,
things will really pick up.
She tells me that her fingernails
are swelling,
that her heart isn't beating,
that the stool in the phone booth is melting,
that the light bulb is twice as big as a man's head.
It's my sister.
I can't just hang up.
[= Apologies =]
I'm sorry
I borrowed your favorite sweater
without asking
and then got that ink stain on it
that wouldn't ever come out.
I'm sorry
I lied about it afterwards,
when you asked me
if I knew how it got there
and I swore I had no idea.
And I lied about your goldfish, too.
He didn't just die a mysterious death like I said,
that week when you were away
on that Girl Scout trip.
I forgot to feed him.
I shouldn't of pretended
your piano playing made me gag
and I shouldn't have read your diary,
even if you did
leave it lying around on your bed.
And I never should have
told on you that night
when you were grounded
and you snuck out the window
to go to that dance with Nick.
And I wish
I hadn't said
I hated you
just because you yelled at me
when you found out what I did.
I'm sorry for
every
single
terrible
thing.
[= Stop =]
Stop pretending.
Right this minute.
I'm your sister.
Don't tell me
you don't know me.
Sister's in the psycho ward
and when I visit, I glance toward
the other patients' twisted faces,
quaking fingers,
frightened eyes,
wishing I could somehow break her out of here...
Then Sister starts to scream at Mother,
telling her how much she hates her,
begging her to stop the voices
chattering inside her skull.
I'm feeling sick,
the air's too thick...
Suddenly I'm running, Stumbling,
Sister's demons chasing after,
leering, laughing,
right behind me
lurching at my heels
remind me:
I could of been the one.
Run, Sister, run!
[= Questions =]
When my friends ask where she is,
I tell them
She's in the hospital.
When they ask why,
I shrug
and say she's sick.
When they ask what kind of sick,
My cheeks flame up
and I change the subject.
[= What it's like =]
When I arrive
she's on all fours
rocking back and forth,
wearing a blouse over her nightgown.
Leaping up
she pulls the curtains open
to show me her veiw.
Staring past the bars on her window,
she shudders
and yanks the curtains shut.
Whipping around,
she points to the mirror,
shrouded with a sheet.
"I had to, Cookie,"
she says with a quick laugh.
"I didn't look like me."
Then she freezes
with hands outstretched,
like rabbits freeze when danger's near,
and all at once
she throws herself into a chair.
She says this chair
controls the room
and all her thoughts
and all mine, too.
I don't
know what
to say.
She catches me checking my watch
and glares at me,
hissing, "Don't run away so fast."
But I stand up.
And when we hug goodbye,
neither of us
wants to let go.
[= At lunch =]
Everybody's sitting around telling jokes.
I haven't giggled this much
in ages.
Then Kate says, "Okay. Okay. I've got one:
Which path does the mental patient take
to get through the forest?"
And they all ask, "Which path?"
and Kate says, "The psycho path!"
and everyone burst out laughing,
Except me.
[= The phone rings =]
It's my sister.
She tells me
that she'll talk to me as long as she likes.
That no one can stop her.
That no one would dare.
She tells me
that the telephone's on fire
but I shouldn't worry because it doesn't hurt.
She tells me that when i'm ninteen, like her,
things will really pick up.
She tells me that her fingernails
are swelling,
that her heart isn't beating,
that the stool in the phone booth is melting,
that the light bulb is twice as big as a man's head.
It's my sister.
I can't just hang up.
[= Apologies =]
I'm sorry
I borrowed your favorite sweater
without asking
and then got that ink stain on it
that wouldn't ever come out.
I'm sorry
I lied about it afterwards,
when you asked me
if I knew how it got there
and I swore I had no idea.
And I lied about your goldfish, too.
He didn't just die a mysterious death like I said,
that week when you were away
on that Girl Scout trip.
I forgot to feed him.
I shouldn't of pretended
your piano playing made me gag
and I shouldn't have read your diary,
even if you did
leave it lying around on your bed.
And I never should have
told on you that night
when you were grounded
and you snuck out the window
to go to that dance with Nick.
And I wish
I hadn't said
I hated you
just because you yelled at me
when you found out what I did.
I'm sorry for
every
single
terrible
thing.
[= Stop =]
Stop pretending.
Right this minute.
I'm your sister.
Don't tell me
you don't know me.
- Stop Pretending
