I Know You Lyrics - Henry Rollins

I know you 

You were too short 

You had bad skin 

You couldn't talk to them very well 

Words didn't seem to work 

They lied when they came out of your mouth 

You tried so hard to understand them 

You wanted to be part of what was happening 

You saw them having fun 

And it seemed like such a mystery 

Almost magic 

Made you think that there was something wrong with you 

You'd look in the mirror and try to find it 

You thought that you were ugly 

And that everyone was looking at you 

So you learned to be invisible 

To look down 

To avoid conversation 

The hours, days, weekends 

Ah, the weekend nights alone 

Where were you? 

In the basement? 

In the attic? 

In your room? 

Working some job - just to have something to do. 

Just to have a place to put yourself 

Just to have a way to get away from them 

A chance to get away from the ones that made you feel 

so strange and ill at ease inside yourself 

Did you ever get invited to one of their parties? 

You sat and wondered if you would go or not 

For hours you imagined the scenarios that might transpire 

They would laugh at you 

If you would know what to do 

If you'd have the right things on 

If they would notice that you came from a different planet 

Did you get all brave in your thoughts? 

Like you going to be able to go in there and deal with it 

and have a great time. 

Did you think that you might be the life of the party? 

That all these people were gonna talk to you and you 

would find out that you were wrong? 

That you had a lot of friends and you weren't so 

strange after all? 

Did you end up going? 

Did they mess with you? 

Did they single you out? 

Did you find out that you were invited because they 

thought you were so weird? 

Yeah, I think I know you 

You spent a lot of time full of hate 

A hate that was pure sunshine 

A hate that saw for miles 

A hate that kept you up at night 

A hate that filled your every waking moment 

A hate that carried you for a long time 

Yes, I think I know you 

You couldn't figure out what they saw in the way they lived 

Home was not home 

Your room was home 

A corner was home 

The place they weren't, that was home 

I know you 

You're sensitive and you hide it because you fear 

getting stepped on one more time 

It seems that when you show a part of yourself that is 

the least bit vulnerable someone takes advantage of you 

One of them steps on you 

They mistake kindliness for weakness 

But you know the difference 

You've been the brunt of their weakness for years 

And strength is something you know a bit about because 

you had to be strong to keep yourself alive 

You know yourself very well now 

And you don't trust people 

You know them too well 

You try to find that special person 

Someone you can be with 

Someone you can touch 

Someone you can talk to 

Someone you don't feel so strange around 

And you find that they don't really exist 

You feel closer to people on movie screens 

Yeah, I think I know you 

You spend a lot of time daydreaming 

And people have made comment to that effect 

Telling you that you're self involved, and self centered 

But they don't know, do they? 

About the long night shifts alone 

About the years of keeping yourself company 

All the nights you wrapped your arms around yourself 

so you could imagine someone holding you 

The hours of indecision, self doubt 

The intense depression 

The blinding hate 

The rage that made you stagger 

The devastation of rejection 

Well, maybe they do know 

But if they do, they sure do a good job of hiding it 

It astounds you how they can be so smooth 

How they seem to pass through life as if life itself 

was some divine gift 

And it infuriates you to watch yourself with your 

apparent skill at finding every way possible to screw it up 

For you life is a long trip 

Terrifying and wonderful 

Birds sing to you at night 

The rain and the sun the changing seasons are true friends 

Solitude is a hard won ally, faithful and patient 

Yeah, I think I know you