I'm reading a new novel, we jostle
We jockey for position, we're conditioned
No collisions
We're not passenger pigeons but we're close
Fly to the city to feed, glide back home
If work isn't filling, our pockets are willing
To pick up the slack
Everyone survives, no one dies but
No one thrives 'til they're pulling in the cash

You can build a house but not a home
You can build a house but not a home
Nothing but a bunch of skin and bones
You can build a house but not a home

So go west young man, go west young man
Until the land runs out
Go west young man, go west young man
Until the land runs out
Grow with your country, go work up North
Keeping moving keeps you warm
Keep improving, moving forward
Making something of yourself

Meaning wealth, meaning saving
Accumulating, trading
Making a race out of waiting
For coffee, waiting for the day
That I get to be bossy, watch me
I'll be awfully efficient
Ashamed of my life and its mission
But to change is to admit
The goal should be different
And I'm not moving the posts
From this distance
Not when I'm oh so close

You can build a house but not a home
You can build a house but not a home

I'm reading a book about fossils
Cold powdered drugs drip down my nostrils
The guy behind me's hostily
Asking if he can borrow a phone
I rely on my silent headphones for protection
Don't move my eyes but he consumes my attention
Rehearsing my lies, like "my battery's dead"
Or "I don't have many minutes left"
If all else fails, "this is my stop"
But only til the next train comes
Cause really it's not

Really, I'm not a bad guy, even high
My friends love me and I treat them right
But they're all my age and all my race
And all my situation, ok, some are asian
But the point is they're not diverse
Like school said we were, Canadian
My world shrunk back down after school
Big fish, above ground pool
Pocket billiards in suburban basements
Wading through wasteage and pavement

Sailing over strange shit
"Islam? Read Quran" spelled in white stones
On an otherwise normal roof, wasted
Oh to youth, oh to dreams beyond my station
Ode to exploration, making changes
Ashamed of my life now, it's aimless
But to change it's
To admit there's something's wrong
It's better to go along, they say
Fake it til you make it
Well, fake it til it breaks and you can't take it

You can build a house but not a home
You can build a house but not a home
Nothing but a bunch of skin and bones
You can build a house but not a home

I've been holding out for more
I've been holding out for more
I've been holding out for more
I've been holding out for more