Blood from a stone
Water from wine
Born under an ill-placed design
A stroke of bad luck,
Wrong place, wrong time
This flier is out of the lime

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, the uranium mine
A stroke of bad luck, now the bird has died
A marker to mark where my tears run dry
I cross it, bless it, alkali

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,
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

Copyright: Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer(s): Bill Berry, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck