How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us - R.E.M.

Blood from a stone, water from wine

Born under an ill-placed sign

A stroke of bad luck, wrong place, wrong time

This flyer is out of the line

The story is a sad one, told many times

The story of my life in trying times

Just add water, stir in lime

How the west was won and where it got us

Canary got trapped in the uranium mine

I struck bad luck, now the bird has died

A marker to mark where my tears run dry

At the crossing of blessed and alkaline

The story is a sad one, told many times

The story of my life in trying times

Just add water, stir in lime

How the west was won and where it got us

I didn't wear glasses 'cause I thought it might rain

Now I can't see anything

I made a mistake, chalked it up to design

I cracked through time, space, godless and dry

I point my nose to the northern star

And watch the decline from a hazy distance

The story is a sad one, told many times

The story of my life in trying times

Just add water, stir in lime

How the west was won and where it got us