More Freakonomics-ish Song Lyrics

A reader named Pete Dignan has noted that we tend to write pretty often about how people are afraid of things. In fact, that was the very theme of a recent 20/20 special to which I contributed. So he sent a link to this song, “Afraid,” by the band Waking Rothko. “The song says pretty much what you do,” Dignan wrote, “but set to a pretty awesome alt-pop melody – enjoy!”

For those of you who want to sing along, here are the lyrics. (As with yesterday’s song lyrics, feel free to correct the transcription.) My favorite bit:

So we’re done for/battle’s won for/Team Irrational

“Afraid”
By Waking Rothko

We’re gonna die in the bathroom.
We’re gonna die in the cancer wing.
We’re gonna die when our hearts give out
And we can’t feel anything.

And we drink and think too much
About the things we cannot change.
And I’ve been lost inside my head so long,
Rebuilt the walls to rearrange.

And there are things to be afraid of,
But they’re not what we think they are.
When imaginary terrors come
To find us in our cot [?] we’ll know that

We’re afraid of things that don’t make sense.
The TV man gets paid because he
Properly persuades us to jump the fence
Like screaming kings, and we believe him,
So we’re done for, battle’s won for
team irrational. It’s a national phenomenon.

I want to know why we’d rather die
Than make a speech in front of our fears.
And I want to know why I never cry
As if my soul would flow out with my tears.

Well, she came and she saw and she left me.
She came and she saw and she stayed.
You’d think time would prepare me for real life.
Wondering if she settled for something less than

Things to be afraid of,
But they’re not what we think they are.
When imaginary terrors come to find us
In our cot [?], we’ll know that

We’re afraid of things that don’t make sense.
The TV man gets paid because he
Properly persuades us to jump the fence
Like screaming kings, and we believe him,
So we’re done for, battle’s won for
Team Irrational. It’s a national phenomenon.