I buckle in my seatbelt and plug my headset in a chair And to the music, I watch flight attendants move They are pointing out the exits, but it looks more like a prayer Or an ancient dance their bloodline reaches through These planes are good for sifting through The warriors from the men I get time to sit and watch them for a while You can see everywhere they're going You can see everywhere they've been In how they look out at the clouds each time they smile And I think, 'maybe he's in town for someone's birthday Or maybe he makes trouble everywhere But as much he resists the conversation Between the rivers and the freeways He knows it's always there' As the Northwest Passage sits somewhere below me as I sleep I dream of captains and explorers eating boots When I ask if I can join them, and they offer one to me I wake up as my home comes into view So I reach out down for my notebook to see what impressions could be spun But it's just buildings, it's just a million swimming pools So I leaf back through the pages to see where I come from Or for some crumbling map of what it's leading to And I find that the hero in this song that I've been writing Doesn't know he's just the image of myself But as much as he resists the conversation Between the rivers and the freeways He's somehow always asking them for help I wanna make out all of the signs I've been ignoring The trees reach for the sky or in the length of someone's hair 'Cause you don't know where you are going Any road will take you there So maybe I'm in town for someone's birthday Or maybe I make trouble everywhere But as much I resist the conversation Between the rivers and the freeways I know it's always there I know it's always there I know it's always there Ah!