Secret Circus (Emmy the Great)

I left my friends for the strangers of the town Between dust and elephants, there can be no common Ground Time obscures their dreary tongues Makes a ghost of everyone Call them what they are A million shadows They all get pregnant or diseased I didn't send for you when I was meant to Lost a friend in you, but then I meant to And only my scars, only my scars miss you now You told me that no matter where I went would be a Prison That the world is harsh, I know it is but, It only hurts, it only hurts if you say "ow" The things that you don't think about don't exist The day I left there was a lightening strike Left a border of flames Tasted carbon on the night Felt the shame of your name And everybody knew the secret circus was a fairytale But I thought I saw a big top in the darkness Thought I heard a whiplash split the sky Should've heard the helicopter screaming Everybody thought that they were gleaming Everything was hot, the ground was steaming Voices calling out across the water Firemen and TV news reporters Stepping on their video recorders Oh but cameras are liars I saw bears and there were tigers And I heard brass in the hiss of the propeller sound And there were shuffles in the desert as the players Gather round And there were faces in the vapours, there were Acrobats and clowns You always told me that I tend to overdramatise But I have seen these things with my very own eyes And then they faded into ether And it's no surprise I guess I didn't hear the call for when the curtain Died Because the things you set on fire don't exist