Ducking & Dodging
Parquet Courts Lyrics

You've been ducking and dodging but you can't come home no more
You have been avoiding and evading, but you are no longer welcome back home.

That key you've got won't fit this lock no more
The key you possess will no longer allow you to enter my home.

My eyes have seen the glory and The sound and image, synchronized Right there on the silver screen
I have experienced great things through watching movies.

Heard the sounds suggesting Lineage of influence, yeah Saw it there in the motherland Straps and cables, steeples, stairways Wind away from origin In a trampled vintage floats the proof
The sounds in music suggest a lineage of influence that can be traced back to its origins, like a piece of vintage evidence floating amidst the chaotic and trampled strings and wires.

I cannot be freed The concert stage, the velvet cage The glass perimeter of me All my friends are disappearing All my letters are in codes All I ever think and feel In your shadow, any roads Waiting, waiting by the silent phone I draft my next apology Burn my letters once they're read Unalloyed joint, I thrice repeat Unalloyed joint Unalloyed joint
Despite performing on stage and being in the headlines, I am still trapped by constraints of society and feel like I cannot be free. My relationships and communication feel restricted and I am constantly apologizing. I find solace in repeating unalloyed joints three times.

Listen to what I just heard It's written on the sun, jailbird And just like you The way it moves A thought that creeps in, grinning always In your hair And in your hallways Got detained in San Francisco On your way to get fresh air The U.S.A. didn't want you there Juggled oranges, but no one cared
I heard something profound that was always there, even though I was detained in San Francisco and my attempts to entertain went unnoticed.

Lady MacBeth, rock me mama Like my back ain't got no bone Like clicks heard on the telephone Like a sudden unhinged moan That leaks out from your broken structure Like a wall of unbound stone
Please rock me like Lady MacBeth, so hard that it feels like my back has no spine. And let me hear those clicks on the phone and those moans from your broken structure, like a wall made of loose stones.

They buried the eighth They buried the ninth They said the finale was a formal reply They buried the eighth They buried the ninth Buried everything, I'm telling you guy Contest prizes, grand pianos Gagged by comfort, shamed by words Empty anthems, cloaked in strange for Stripes and bars, is it yours? Stripes and bars Stripes and bars Stripes and bars, and are you sure? Stripes and bars will lock you in Lock you in or camouflage you Feel the sun, but cannot walk to Hear the yelp, but cannot talk to Triply[?] broken what you swore Were stripes and bars That's what they're for
There was a significant burial of events in the past, yet they all collectively end with formal replies. All was buried and forgotten, including grand prizes, big instruments, and dull poetry. The stripes and bars may be yours, but be careful, as they may lock or disguise you and leave you with no power.

You've been ducking and dodging but you can't come home no more
You have been avoiding and evading, but you are no longer welcome back home.

That key you've got won't fit that lock no more
The key you possess will no longer allow you to enter my home.

You've been ducking and dodging but you can't come home no more You've been ducking and dodging but you can't come home no more That key you've got won't fit that lock no more That key you've got won't fit that lock no more You've been ducking and dodging but you can't come home no more You've been ducking, dodging but you can't come home no more That key you've got won't won't let you in that door That key you've got won't fit that lock no more
The chorus is repeated multiple times, emphasizing the theme that the subject is no longer welcome at home and cannot enter through the locked door, despite their attempts to evade this fate.