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Broken To Begin With

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Broken To Begin With
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Album

Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan

Forthcoming

November 7, 2025

Length

3:03

Previous Track

"The Lady from Shanghai 2"

Broken To Begin With is the twelfth song on Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan.

Lyrics[]

Men of old who sailed the seas
Bringing nations to their knees
Turning up the remnants of our campsite
Would never know it kept three people warm at night

Survey the clumsy architecture
Idly make a few conjectures
Scribble some conclusions in a ledger
Never knowing better

Like anything you ever come across
Before you knew about it, it got lost

It was broken to begin with
It was broken to begin with
It was like that when we got here
It was broken to begin with

When the archaeologists arrive
No proof that we were ever here alive
Me and Peter Balkan and you, friend
Until the dream ran out of oxygen

Is this not what you wanted from the sea?
Is this not what the waves require of me?
Isn't this what we suspect we'll see
On the day we finally get free?

And if that day turns out to be today
Maybe that's okay

It was broken to begin with
It was broken to begin with
It was like that when we got here
It was like this when we got here
It was broken to begin with

Well, the first thing you learn is how far you can go with no gas in the tank
And the next thing you learn is how cold it can get at night

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

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