Rob lived in a box by the rails
Only thing he knew is you don't fail
When you live in a box by the rails
Don't comb your hair, don't comb your tail

Sweep my mess away
Leave my body, leave my bones
Leave me whole and leave my soul
Leave me nothin' I don't need at all
Nothin' I don't need at all

He ate from the bins in the park
Stayed out with the rats after dark
Never left a trail, never made his mark
When he ate with the rats after dark

Sweep my mess away
Leave my body, leave my bones
Leave me whole and leave my soul
Leave me nothin' I don't need at all
Nothin' I don't need at all

Callin' on his friends never made him sad
Didn't want the things he never had
It only made them feel so sad
For having the things he never had

Sweep my mess away
Leave my body, leave my bones
Leave me whole and leave my soul
Leave me nothin' I don't need at all
Nothin' I don't need at all

If you stay in that box overnight
And don't get out when it gets light
There's not much lost of a secret life
That's never done wrong and it's never done right

Now some more flowers grow
And the corn gets eaten by a few more crows
And an old man's box is full of bones
Won't see his footprints in the snow

Sweep my mess away
Leave my body, leave my bones
Leave me whole and leave my soul
Leave me nothin' I don't need at all
Nothin' I don't need at all

Sweep my mess away
Leave my body, leave my bones
Leave me whole and leave my soul
Leave me nothin' I don't need at all
Nothin' I don't need at all


Lyrics submitted by Macphisto12, edited by flynner, ryuus

The Box Lyrics as written by John Patrick Vivian Flynn

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The box song meanings
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    General Comment

    These posted lyrics are wrong in so many ways, I don't even know where to start.

    tgriff106on October 22, 2014   Link

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