These United States Nobody Can Tell lyrics

I hope that you won't tell them that I knew -
Who I knew very well – that I knew it too well
I was searching for the story that no -
That nobody can tell, nobody can tell …

I was saved there by two strangers and a motor
Like a grateful modern man from the jaws of the wild waters
There was nothing symbolic, metaphoric, or cluttered,
Just my life on their one hand and my death on their other
The sky was perfect blue, and the sailboats, too, perfect -
All too distant for someone so far spun from their orbit
I was gone from them, gone from you, from everyone,
I was gone to the wind, I was sad for the shore but…
I was sad for the shore but…

I hope that you won't tell them that I knew -
Who I knew very well – that I knew it too well
I was searching for the story that no -
That nobody can tell, nobody can tell …

I had wanted to leave, I had burned just to breathe
I had paddled so hard through my own little sea
I had not once looked back, with the sun in my brain
I was two hours out when the second wave came
There is so much above us, but far more below
The direction we're beckoned when forced to let go
There is little we've found certain, and less to be true

But my death gave me this, my only out to you…
The only out is through…

I hope that you won't tell them that I knew -
Who I knew very well – that I knew it too well
I was searching for the story that no -
That nobody can tell, nobody can tell …

I got so many senses thrashing back through water blue cornstalks -
God is a woman and I love the way she walks
Damnitall, I miss my pops, and all the trash he talks
If I make it back alive I'm gonna give him all my thoughts
But I'll start with just the facts, the two strangers named John
One being the senior, and the junior his son -
“How'd you ever make it this far?” the old man had chagrined
“Sir, I swam and I swam and I swam and I swam
and I swam and I swam and I swam and I swam
I swam and I swam and I laughed and I swam…
I still swim… I still swim.”

I hope that you won't tell them that I knew -
Who I knew very well – that I knew it too well
I was searching for the story that no -
That nobody can tell, nobody can tell …