His eyes shift over from the window to the chair
Holding off death with a get back stare
He says "Sis, it's all right,
I won't go gentle into that good night"

Well no that's not what he said
No one quotes Dylan Thomas in a hospital bed
Specially not a kid of 17
Cirles under his eyes, encirled by machines

Born with a hole in his heart
Sometimes he needs more just for it to start
Lately it's been stopping a lot
Like stopping a watch, like stopping a clock

When you fall down 36 times,
Rising up 35 is a pretty good record
A pretty good record but the stakes are too high
A pretty good record and he's still gonna die

Is that fair? What's fair?
This is real life
No doctor here would dare
To put him under the knife, so

Back to the room without poetry
Big sister at the edge of the bed
His eyes flicker upwards hopefully
Then you know he whispers he says

Do you know CPR?
I can feel it in my heart
Do you know CPR?
Could it really be that hard

Do you know CPR?
I can feel it in my heart
Do you know CPR?
Could it really be that hard

As virtuous men pass mildly away
And whisper to their souls to go
Scared young kids who just wanna live
Can whisper to their sisters "no"

'Cause this is not John Donne, don't be the one
Who watches as his breath expires
And if doctors and parents all agree there is
No hope then call them liars

Rage cause he got nothing like a fair shot
But still has the will to fight
He's not noble or cowardly, just minutely/hourly
Dreaming he'll live the night

E.C.G. blinks in the dark
Beeping to the beating of a heart
E.C.G. whines on a line
Supine in a box of pine

Not fine, not fine, OK or coming back
Sister missed another brother heart attack
Dealing is hard when the deck is stacked
Holding his chart, feeling so wracked

How can she ever be happy enough
She got to dodge all of this stuff
How can she carry his name around
Let little things get her down

But every moment is not a gift
That's not a long-term way to live
She gave her brother's name to her firstborn son
Told him just to try and have fun

When she needed anaesthesia or took a plane to meet him
It was plain that she was numb and afraid
Pain that fades with the years is still rattling ears
With echo echoes of her brother saying

Do you know CPR?
I can feel it in my heart
Do you know CPR?
Could it really be that hard

Do you know CPR?
I can feel it in my heart
Do you know CPR?
Could it really be that hard