You eat or you get eaten; you jump or you get jumped And behind the weary curtain is a loving whore called hope She's rambunctious as a tiger, always tearing holes in things Leaving hearts so wide and gaping, one is useless but to sing Sing of love or of betrayal, doesn't matter, she is there Behind every disappointment, behind every hook and snare She'll embrace you for a moment, then she'll turn and kill the mood With some heinous imposition, like "I thought you understood" But you couldn't seek to hurt her, for she's gentle as a dove She's within the every smile of the humans that you love She is homesick but resilient; she is cunning as she's cruel She'll remind you of your freedom as she's spelling out her rules One: you eat or you get eaten, two: you jump or you get jumped The deceiver and deceived are at the table talking shop Just as Judas turns to Jesus, hope flies off the dirty scene Saying "good luck sorting this one, I will see you in between" How she's loved and how she's hated, but sought after all the same I cave in and go a-knocking when I think that I'm to blame For the lonely things that hearts do, when there's no way to explain Why his love has dissipated, or goes by another name We eat and we are eaten, jointly nourished and consumed We are patient while we're able, later selfish and then cruel We are helpless as a newborn and then hungry as a dog And then wounded as a nightingale who never found her song When I find I'm at the table with my brethren, talking shop She's the wisest one among us, yes our kind, deceitful hope Just as she brought us together, she must tear us now apart With our dreams and our decisions, we are brought back to the start You eat or you get eaten, as you jump or you get jumped And behind that scarlet curtain is a loving whore called hope She says "I am just a human, bound to fall towards anything Much like you my heart is gaping, I am useless but to sing"