If the strain proves too much
Give up right away
If the light hurts your eyes
Stay in your room all day

When the room fills with smoke
Lie down on the floor
In the declining years
Of the long war

When the blood's in the water
And the shark's going [bad word] 
And we swim in the dark
Until our bodies are numb

Blind desert rats in the moonlight
Too far from shore
In the declining years
Of the long war

Empty room with a light bulb
When the phone starts to ring
Everybody gets nervous
Nobody says anything

The next day someone's initials
Show up on the door
I think I'm going to crack
Can't live like this anymore

Ugly things in the darkness
Worse things in store
In the declining years
Of the long war