Lyrics of 'Long Story Short' by The Avett Brothers

Here I am standing, ten feet between us
Beside me the door that I just came through
Where I walk past an overweight cop in an alley
With a beer gut bursting from a bullet-proof jacket

Who thinks to himself I've got to get back to the man
That I was when I was a dreamer
With a partner in crime named Brandi McGill
A girl with a love of life bigger than normal
Who still wonders when her life will begin

Her best friend Maria who seems to have everything
Tells her she probably just needs a vacation
Away from the stress of her husbands vocation
While Maria is talking Brandi is drifting
Staring at John who just got the job busing tables
To pay for community college

An associates degree in x-ray technology
John is too old to still be in college
He doesn't like class and sometimes doesn't go
Long story short his family was broken
He was freed from a past life as a kid on skid Row
He notices Brandi but stares at Maria
Her beauty well practiced and casting a spell

Imagining her naked he spills dirty dishes
On the lap of an elderly woman named Belle
A lady who won't live to see her next birthday
But shares a warm smile regardless of that
The mess that unfolds completely surrounds her
Not one bit of urgency enters her soul

She reaches for Roy, her husband forever
In love and connection her small hand he holds
And nothing comes of it but a manager's anger
Not for the mess but her father's remark
About a bad grade that she had as a child

So she takes her revenge out by firing John
Who now wonders when his life will begin
Ain't it confusing to search for the will and learn
When you find it that you've lost your way

Long story short he saw commercial
That said that the 20's are the prime of your life
But that doesn't seem to be true at this moment
As he cleans out his locker and calls best friend
Who's too busy to talk cause he's prepping with lawyers

To keep money from his ex-wife the mother of their only son
Who's naturally drawn to guns and sharp objects
Who now has now father
Except for on weekends two times a month
No need to worry I'm told were protected
By the men passing laws in the house and the senate

From people to mix up the truth and reality with movies
And games and ridiculous scenarios
Long story short, best I can tell
Children can't be left to raise themselves