Good at Knowing Better

Lyrics: I've got a way of moving lines I swore I'd never cross Of measuring the effort against everything it costs I can turn a little hesitation into something justified Find a hundred shades of gray in something clearly black and white I've got a talent for exceptions when the rules apply to me I can make a choice feel complicated when it's really pretty clean And I don't think that I'm dishonest, at least not intentionally But I've gotten good at giving myself room to disagree With the person that I promised I was working to become With the things I said were simple till the time to do them comes And there's comfort in the distance between knowing and the act 'Cause as long as I'm still thinking, I don't have to face the fact That I know what I should do, and I know what I would say If somebody else was standing in my shoes for just a day And I wish I had a reason that was harder to define But sometimes I just don't want to, and I dress it up as why I'm good at knowing better Not so good at doing right I can pull myself together Just to pull myself apart at night And I know, I know, I know Every reason, every why I'm good at knowing better I just don't know what to do with why There's a version of myself that I keep somewhere in my head He's a little more ambitious, gets up earlier from bed He's the one who makes the effort, doesn't wait until it's late Doesn't need a little crisis just to finally create And I borrow all his qualities when thinking who I am Like the person I could probably be is part of who I am I take credit for potential like it's something that I've done Then I wonder why I'm tired when the day has barely begun I've got plans to be more present, plans to listen, plans to grow Plans to call the people back that I keep meaning to know And I've made a little habit out of promising myself That the person I'll be later is a person who will help But later has a funny way of looking like today Same excuses, different reasons, same old clever little ways And I'm not some tragic failure, that's not what I'm trying to say I'm just tired of understanding why I keep getting in my way I'm good at knowing better Not so good at doing right I can pull myself together Just to pull myself apart at night And I know, I know, I know Every reason, every why I'm good at knowing better I just don't know what to do with why And maybe this is just another way To make a flaw sound beautiful Put it into meter, give it melody Call the whole thing vulnerable Get a little credit for admitting What I probably should change Everybody loves a man who's honest When he's honest about shame Isn't that convenient? And now I've made a song about it That's a pretty clever trick Turn a problem into something I can play and call it fixed I'm good at knowing better Not so good at doing right I can pull myself together Just to pull myself apart at night And I know, I know, I know Every reason, every why I'm good at knowing better I just don't know what to do with why I know better, I know better I've known better all this time And I can always find a reason I can always find a rhyme I know better, I know better That's the one thing I can prove I've gotten good at knowing better Not so good at following through.