Released: January 27, 2009
Songwriter: Duncan Sheik
Producer: Duncan Sheik
[Verse 1: Duncan Sheik]
I present to you a story
Set upon a northern shore
The denizens of lighthouse
During times of war
The foolish things they did
The foolish things they said
I'm sure you will agree
They would be better off dead
[Verse 2: Holly Brook]
Lily keeps the lighthouse
She's afraid of the unknown
She's no ray of sunshine
So mostly she's alone
No one cares about her longing
Or the dreams on which she's fed
And though I'm sad to say it
She would be better off dead
[Verse 3: Duncan Sheik]
Next we have a sheriff
Charles is his name
He's something of a sideshow
Every sheriff is the same
Will he stand for justice
Or something else instead?
Either way, it hardly matters
'Cause he's better off dead
[Chorus: Duncan Sheik]
When everything is done
And everything is said
Life is naught but pain
It's better to be dead
Release your heavy heart
Rest your weary head
When all the world's at war
It's better, it's better
[Verse 4: Holly Brook]
Witness Yasuhiro
He hails from old Japan
He searches for redemption
In this strange and foreign land
And now he works for Lily
To earn his daily bread
But the most that one can say
Is that he's better off dead
[Verse 5: Duncan Sheik]
Please welcome young Christopher
He's come here on a train
His father flew to heaven
In a fiery aeroplane
He's come to live with Lily
He's got visions in his head
He may be our main attraction
But he's better off dead
[Chorus: Duncan Sheik & Holly Brook]
When everything is done
And everything is said
Life is naught but pain
It's better to be dead
Release your heavy heart
Rest your weary head
When all the world's at war
It's better to be dead
Everything is done
All things have been said
It's good to be a ghost
It's better, it's better to be dead
It's good to be a ghost (It's good to be a ghost)
It's better to be dead
I present to you a story
Set upon a northern shore
The denizens of lighthouse
During times of war
The foolish things they did
The foolish things they said
I'm sure you will agree
They would be better off dead
[Verse 2: Holly Brook]
Lily keeps the lighthouse
She's afraid of the unknown
She's no ray of sunshine
So mostly she's alone
No one cares about her longing
Or the dreams on which she's fed
And though I'm sad to say it
She would be better off dead
[Verse 3: Duncan Sheik]
Next we have a sheriff
Charles is his name
He's something of a sideshow
Every sheriff is the same
Will he stand for justice
Or something else instead?
Either way, it hardly matters
'Cause he's better off dead
[Chorus: Duncan Sheik]
When everything is done
And everything is said
Life is naught but pain
It's better to be dead
Release your heavy heart
Rest your weary head
When all the world's at war
It's better, it's better
[Verse 4: Holly Brook]
Witness Yasuhiro
He hails from old Japan
He searches for redemption
In this strange and foreign land
And now he works for Lily
To earn his daily bread
But the most that one can say
Is that he's better off dead
[Verse 5: Duncan Sheik]
Please welcome young Christopher
He's come here on a train
His father flew to heaven
In a fiery aeroplane
He's come to live with Lily
He's got visions in his head
He may be our main attraction
But he's better off dead
[Chorus: Duncan Sheik & Holly Brook]
When everything is done
And everything is said
Life is naught but pain
It's better to be dead
Release your heavy heart
Rest your weary head
When all the world's at war
It's better to be dead
Everything is done
All things have been said
It's good to be a ghost
It's better, it's better to be dead
It's good to be a ghost (It's good to be a ghost)
It's better to be dead
more tracks from the album
From the album
- Whisper House (2009)
Duncan Sheik popular songs
- Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind
- The Dark I Know Well
- The Song of Purple Summer
- Left Behind
- Those You’ve Known
- And Then There Were None
- The Word of Your Body
- Totally Fucked
- The Guilty Ones
- The Word of Your Body (Reprise)
- Whispering
- The Mirror-Blue Night
- I Believe
- Barely Breathing
- There Once Was a Pirate
- Hey Casanova
- William, It Was Really Nothing
- House Full of Riches
- White Limousine (radio edit)
- How It Feels
- Reasons for Living (La Leche mix)
- Magazines
- Sad Stephen’s Song
- On a High (Love From Humboldt dub)