Ohio
Jacob Whitesides Lyrics

At 14 I used to talk to myself
During my teenage years, I used to engage in soliloquies.

Paint my bedroom with stars
Decorate my room with celestial bodies.

One for each time my dad flaked out
One star to represent each instance of my father's absence.

Got a galaxy of scars
Have accumulated many emotional wounds.

You know that feeling that you get when ya start to run out of breath
The sensation of asphyxiation or suffocation.

And ya pass out, wake up, wig out not knowing where you are
Lose consciousness, regain it, and panic as you recover from a fainting spell.

I’m safer here inside my submarine
Feel more secure when isolated from the outside world.

‘Cause when I’m under water you can’t say anything
No one can talk to me or criticize me when I am submerged in water.

I can’t hear anything
Also, I am unable to listen to anyone.

O-o-o-ohio
Ohio, Ohio, Ohio

I don’t need Hollywood
I do not require the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.

I don’t need New York heights or Las Vegas lights
Nor do I need the skyscrapers of New York or the glitz of Las Vegas.

I need O-o-o-ohio
What I do crave is the state of Ohio

I’ve never even been there
Even though I've never been to that place

But I’d rather fall asleep in an open field in Ohio
It is better to drift off to sleep in an Ohio field.

Last time I saw your face
The most recent memory of seeing your visage

You were screaming that I don't have a clue
You were shouting that I lack understanding.

I’m not a deadbeat piece of shit
I refuse to be an unproductive and worthless human being.

Dad, I'll never learn that from you
My father, I will never comprehend that from you.

You know that feeling when you’re weak
The sensation of being powerless.

And ya, wish your brain could delete for ya
Desire for your mind to erase or delete your troublesome thoughts.

All the types of twisted contradictions that I worked so hard to lose
The perplexing opposites that I had striven to eliminate.

‘Cause when I’m under water you can’t throw words at me
Words cannot be hurled my way when I am submerged in water.

I’m just learning how to leave
I am currently discovering how to depart from people and situations.

Growing up, and we're all dying
As we mature, we all approach our eventual demise.

Growing up, and we're all trying
As we mature, we all strive for something.