"Bitter Ender" lyrics - MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

Hope is a drug when it comes to love
And I hoped it would never run dry
Writing covered the wall, there was no time to stall
But still I kept wanting to try

[Chorus:]
Truth is I've always gone down with the ship
I've never known when it's time to quit
As defiant as well as defender
I'm a bitter ender

Once in a while the universe smiles
Lets you think that you're in on the joke
The plans that you made and the life that you craved
Now it's all going up in smoke

[Chorus:]
How many signs are you willing to miss?
And the way that you stay when you're cut to the quick
'Til they call you a repeat offender
It makes you a bitter ender

[Bridge:]
One of these days we could wake up and say
That our eyes are wide open
Brand new and blinking
What if the cure is to give up the allure of the magic
Of magical thinking?

Pride is a curse but no pride is worse
And lately that's just what it is
Whatever we're told, everything gets old
Nothing changes, it's the same old shit

[Chorus:]
How many nights are you ready to waste
On the loneliest fight and the emptiest chase?
For reasons now you can't even remember
As defiance burns down to an ember
For the reckless and the fools and pretenders
And bitter enders