Two Cans on a String

We had a real good thing going here for quite a while
We sounded good to each other and we saw eye to eye
But something shifted and the line got frayed
And you went too far away, it was over the line’s length

So the distance grew between us and it stressed the line
And I refused to budge, I swore it all was fine
And I wanted you to step back to where I could see your face
And you simply turned your back, you said, “This is not my place”

Before saying
These phones are not like a string on two cans
You can’t tug on your end and pull me back in again…in again

So I tried to reel you back in here with my texts and calls
But my sound just echoes down your lonely halls
Don’t you remember how it was, remember how it used to be?
When you say, “bad connection,” you can’t be talking to me

But I hear you
These phones are not like a string on two cans
I have more than one line, I have more than one friend…you are just a friend

So now we’re in different houses and we’re playing by different rules
Yet I still shake the line like we were back in school
Am I really this sad now, am I really this low?
Our signals got crossed when you said you had to go

And I thought you said it was all too clear
But really what you meant is that you just couldn’t be here
So I tried to recall when you stood happy near
And I realized letting go is mostly what I fear

Because I hear you
These phones are not like a string on two cans
Just ‘cause you have the start, don’t mean I have the end…is this the end?

What words did I use back when we were friends?
Why don’t you take a little listen to the messages I used to send
When you were hearing “I love you,” I was saying, “I’m obsessed”
Now that that line is severed, I’m just like all the rest
But maybe in the future if I can get you on the phone
You’ll remember a time and place when your can was connected to someone
Yeah, you’ll remember a time and place when your can was connected to someone

Come walk away with me a while
Come walk with me for a while
Come talk with me just for a while
Until we lay naked on the tile

And you remember a time and place when your can was connected to someone

Written in May 2010 with musical collaboration from Adam Finerson
Two Cans on a String - F’nA demo video