Well the animals laugh from the dark of the wilderness
A baby cries hard in an apartment complex
As I pass in a car buried under the influence
The city's driving me out of my mind
I've seen a child, he's caught in the sad trap of gravity
He falls from the lowest branch of the apple tree
And lands in the grass, and weeps for his dignity
Next time he will not aim so high
Yeah, next time, neither will I

Now a mother takes loans out, sends her kids off to colleges
Her family's reduced to names on a shopping list
While a coroner kneels beneath a great wooden crucifix
He knows there's worse things than being alone
And so I've learned to retreat at the first sign of danger
I mean, why wait around, if it's just to surrender?
And ambition, I've found, can lead only to failure
I do not read the reviews
No, I am not singing for you

Well, I stood dropping a coin into the pit of a well
And I would throw my whole billfold if I thought it would help
With all these wishes I make, I should buy something real
At least a telephone to call home
Well, my teachers, they built this retaining wall of memory
All those multiple choices I answered so quickly
And got my grades back, and forgot just as easily
But at least I got an A
And so I don't have them to blame

Well I should stop pointing fingers, reserve my judgement
Of all those public action figures, the cowboy presidents
So loud behind the bullhorn, so proud they can't admit
When they've made a mistake
Well, poison ink spews from a speechwriter's pen
He knows he don't have to say it so it, it don't bother him
Honesty, accuracy, just popular opinion
And the approval rating's high
And so someone's gonna die

Well, ABC, NBC, CBS bullshit
They give us fact or fiction, I guess an even split
And each new act of war is tonight's entertainment
We're still the pawns in their game
As they take eye for an eye, until no one can see
We must stumble blindly forward, repeating history
Well I guess we all fit into your slogan in that fast food marquee
Red-blooded, white skinned, oh and the blues
Oh, and the blues, I got the blues, that's me!
(That's me!)
That's me!

Well I awoke in relief, my sheets and tubes were all tangled
Weak from whiskey and pills in a Chicago hospital
And my father was there, in a chair by the window
Staring so far away
I tried talking, just whispered, "So sorry, so selfish"
He stopped me and said, "Child, I love you regardless
There's nothing you could do that would ever change this
I'm not angry, it happens
But you just can't do it again"

So now I try to keep up, I've been exchanging my currency
While a million objects pass through my periphery
Now I'm rubbing my eyes, cause they're starting to bother me
I've been staring too long at the screen
But where was it when I first heard that sweet sound of humility?
It came to my ears in the goddamn loveliest melody
How grateful I was then to be part of the mystery
To love and to be loved
Let's just hope that is enough