All the boys from way back when
Are on vacation in the Highlands
Grown up, with a goatee, and a bachelor's in finance
Arm around a girl I grew up in the same town with
She's 24 and still ignores what her friends said about him
And they all recently got out of rehab, are engaged
Either bought a labradoodle or went totally insane
The bad guys and tradwives and starving artists
A friend I'll never see again who passed away in August

The light beams on the stadium seats
When I see you, you're still seventeen
Just ghosts inside the afterlife
But I still got an axе to grind

And the loudest in the room
Ain't thе loudest anymore
He's too close to midnight midlife crisises
And is divorced
It's a few years down the road
It's a couple wedding rings
Till he realizes he never amounted to anything
And the loudest one alive
Will never really get to live
And just between us I could always see
Some of myself in him
Was he ever really mean?
Was it bark not bite?
Did he hate me or what he had to hide?

The light beams on the stadium seats
When I see you, you're still seventeen
Just ghosts inside the afterlife
But I still got an axe to grind

So got to Brooklyn, wind up broke
And thank your mom for the check she wrote
Then act like you're the toughest one around
Blackout down at ASU and leave with the same attitude
But act like you are holier than now
Paint until your fingers bleed
Find out what your spirit needs
Get sober, get a dog, and get a grip
Watch it on the silver screen
The politics and pageant queens
A thousand fucking Nashville trips
We're just ghosts inside the afterlife
But I still got an axe to grind