[Verse 1: Emily Saliers]
Look a gift horse in the mouth go get a job
Last best deal I ever got was a quarter for a beer on the quad
Nevilles singing on a makeshift stage you sittin' on a towel in the shade
Came from a foreign town, and you smoked a joint with Jackson Browne

[Pre-Chorus: Emily Saliers, Amy Ray, Both]
What if my pain won’t deliver me? (What if my stasis)
What if my stasis crushes me with boredom?
If I read into everything you say to me
I will never get the meaning of your words like when you wrote them

[Chorus: Emily Saliers, Amy Ray, Both]
When we were writers (When we were writers)
When we were fighters (We were fighters)
Before we found purpose and made deals with God
Let’s pull an all nighter push wood in the fire
It might just look like smoke in my eyes
But I’m still burning inside

[Verse 2: Emily Saliers, Emily Saliers & Amy Ray]
Some sailed the calmer seas serial monogamy
Best trip I ever took was on the ship that I wrecked and how I got set free
Strange boy in the Vegas summer
Dancing by the pool to a different drummer
Maybe a heat mirage or a message in camouflage
[Pre-Chorus: Emily Saliers, Amy Ray, Both]
What if I thought that the best of me (Was spending my days)
Spending my days doing just fine? (Doing just fine)
To short change my true full capacity
And recognize it just when I was running out of time

[Chorus: Emily Saliers,Amy Ray, Both]
When we were writers (When we were writers)
We were igniters (We were igniters)
Blisters to callus to scars from the war
The sentence gets tighter the impact grows wider
When nothing is wasted nor chances denied

[Bridge: Emily Saliers, Emily Saliers & Amy Ray]
I’ve had my day in the sun that’s no lie
But I’m still burning inside
The slings and arrows the passage narrows
The story harrowing the word becomes flesh
Wrestle the beast that leaves you diminished
It’s alright, you will never be finished

[Chorus: Emily Saliers, Amy Ray,Both]
(When you’re a writer)When you’re a writer
(When you’re a fighter)When you’re a fighter
Easy to be cruel, better to be kind
Plow through the stalks of your heart’s tinder box
Flint to the rock and you’ll find, you’re still burning inside
[Outro Emily Saliers & Amy Ray]
When we were writers
I'm still burning inside
When we were writers