Holographic Whales and Fire Escape Tails

[Intro]
[Verse]
Peeling back the foil
On a holographic whale
Sticky residue on my thumb
The adhesive starts to fail
I found the puffy stars
From a pack I bought in June
Hidden in a shoebox
Underneath a paper moon
[Vignette]
The Casio is clicking
A steady plastic beat
I remember the asphalt
And the shimmering city heat
Two thousand eighteen
Was a year I made up
Drinking lukewarm soda
From a chipped ceramic cup
[Refrain]
He was a calico king
On a rusty iron throne
The most beautiful cat
That I have ever known
Napping by the railing
In the Lydian light
I dreamed of our friendship
Every single night
[Breakdown]
[Narrative]
I named him Sir Pounces
Though we never even spoke
I watched him from the window
Through the kitchen's thin smoke
I thought about the tuna
I would buy him at the store
But I was too shy
To open up the door
[Bridge]
Listen to the bells
Of the truck three blocks away
Playing Pop Goes the Weasel
In a sad and broken way
My stickers are all dusty
And the glitter doesn't shine
But in my head he is happy
And he is permanently mine
[Refrain]
He was a calico king
On a rusty iron throne
The most beautiful cat
That I have ever known
Napping by the railing
In the Lydian light
I dreamed of our friendship
Every single night
[Verse]
The scratch and sniff strawberry
Doesn't smell like much at all
Just a faint chemical memory
Pinned against the bedroom wall
I will put the lid back on
And push the box aside
Another summer phantom
With nowhere left to hide
[Outro]