Count On It

Hard to see when you believe in a ghost.
An invisible man who's afraid of getting hit by traffic.
He's never far, so try not to bump into him.
I've collided with air too many times.

Material objects fly through the air without provocation.
If you get in deep enough to know.
He's the man in the dandy hat.
Grows closer to you when you're alone.

It's only then he can see who you are with yourself.
Alone, no one to front for.
No one to impress with all your tricks.
And indecipherable bliss.

And once you've grown cold and silent.
He'll know you're close to the edge.
He'll come to claim you if he can.
His name is nothing and he's not even related to the man we call "death".

If death follows you around take it as a compliment.
He's only ensuring your passage through life.
Every death threat and every bomb dismantled creates a cloak.
It's only when they miss the mark and you're blown away that you can't stay for another day.

Say I had a gift called foresight and I used it every chance I got.
And pretend I could forecast someone else's fate.
Wouldn't that be a valuable commodity.
Useless when choosing a set of lottery numbers, cause that's not how it works.

In emergencies people have been known to exert superhuman strength.
I've heard the story of someone lifting a car, saving a person trapped.
The price we pay for saving someone's life isn't always stiff.
It's only high if we misjudge, never sacrifice yourself unless it's a final choice.

Put yourself in front of the bullet and you'll pay a price.
Especially if it was intended for family or friend.
I can defend myself better in a mental game of war.
If I see you coming in my mind's eye I might devise a plan.

This isn't a warning or an attempt to out myself.
It's just a dialogue about how we might work from time to time.
Send in an assassin and you've definitely crossed a line.
My grandfather John Donovan taught me nothing, I never met him, but I heard the stories.

He was OSS, his cover journalism.
My grandmother and my mother suffered some of the consequences.
Our men who work in intelligence always bring secrets that can't be explained or repeated, families broken and torn.
Black suits, black cars come to question the women and children and it's not against the law.