Glue Vessel
Happy Birthday to me
(to me)
25 years old today
(today)
It's my birthday
(birthday)
Happy Birthday, Vessel
(They're not coming back for you)
Happy Birthday Dear, dear, dear
Vessel
Vessel
Vessel
The first thing I remember brings me 25 years back
Overcast morning, the kind that almost looks fake
First thing I saw was white walls, and bright light bulbs
Blurry pictures and hands holding cans of paint
The image used to be clear, but the years were never kind
Your past is always playing tricks on your mind
Muffled noises slowly became voices
Hovering over my body watching God's miracle happen
Life shot through my limbs
And they started asking questions
But I couldn't answer with the comprehension
Being newborn status
Classes don't start for a while
I know I'm not the fastest thinker
But I was quickly mobile
At an early age my chores started like everyone else
My friends don't speak much
But at least they're there help
When there is work to be done, one of three sons, I've always been special
The others got boring names, but my parents called me Vessel
Middle name 1208 and I don't complicate
I keep busy and have no time to waste
Careening with the social scene, or playing on sports teams
(But now I've misunderstood what they meant)
See, when teens aren't supervised, they'll kill each other
AND I KNOW FIRSTHAND FROM WATCHING OVER MY BROTHERS
(Watch my brothers)
But tonight we celebrate the day that I was born
And every year I wait by the window and listen for the horn
(Listen for the horn)
(They haven't showed up and I don't understand why
(It's been three hours)
And I don't, I don't think that they know anything they've done
(And I don't understand, why)
I'm worried about them
I'm wondering if something's happened
("I was sitting...")
("narc")
3 hours late and usually I wouldn't complain
But their absence today us more than just a little strange
Should I be suspicious? My record's flawless
I've watched them sleep while my hands cropped the harvest
This house is keeping secrets
It's got the worst timing
So I'll force these walls to tell me where my family is hiding
Providing light for my search
Flipped the switch in the kitchen
The windows were open; something stirring caught my vision
On the table next to a phone number that I've never seen
Scattered papers in a folder and a picture of me
It was a title of ownership from 1978
For a registered machine with the initials of my name
And stapled to the title was a receipt for for disposal
With today's date on it
And a signature from the owners
This can't be right, I don't understand what this means
These papers say that this machine is me?!
(that this machine is me)
(But how can she be me?
I don't understand
I read all of it but most of it was worthless
Except that "your 25 years…
Your machine is out of service…")
Let them come for me
(LET THEM KNOW THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO ME)
He doesn't really care for me anymore
THEY WANT THIS
(This is not their kid)
I spent my whole life thinking I was human
They tricked me into thinking I was one of them
So the chores would be done
The laundry would be picked up
The house would be clean
All I wanted I ever wanted self esteem
I wanted respect in a race that was alien to me
How could I feel alive and just be machinery?
I'm angry at what they've done;
MY FAMILY IS MY LIFE
They've left me here tonight by myself to be sacrificed
I'll go to the roof and I'll give them what they want
And if I'm so robotic then the pain was never real
Just a program to bind man's way to my flesh
Only after 25 years does it all now make sense?
What kind of god leaves you tortured with free thought?
Keeps you alive for labor then recycles the spare parts
They can have these limbs; then return them to my parents
(Tell them Vessel tried to find the truth under her skin)
Three stories high, but one story over
Metal hits the ground
Brain smashes
Closure
(I'm a narc?)
(There's nothing special about you. You're just an ordinary program.)
(How could he be able to do that?)
Never thought that I was trapped
Never needed an escape
Never thought that I was trapped
Never needed an escape
Never thought that I was trapped
Never needed an escape
I never thought that I was trapped
Never needed an escape
I never thought that I was trapped
I never needed an escape
I never thought that I was trapped
I never needed an escape
I never thought that I was trapped
I never needed the escape
I never thought that I was trapped
I never needed the escape