No Control

There's a place where everyone can be happy.
It's the most beautiful place in the whole fucking world.
It's made of candy canes and planes and bright red choo-choo trains,
And the meanest little boys and the most innocent little girls,
And you know I wish that I could got there.
It's a road that I have not found.
And I wish you the best of luck, dear.
Drop a card or letter to my side of town.
Because there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend,
But baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send and
You... painted my entire world.
But I... don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled.
And I won't forget it.
There's a place where everyone can be right,
Even though you remain determined to be opposed.
Admittance requires no qualifications:
It's where everyone has been and where everybody goes.
So please try not to be impatient,
For we all hate standing in line.
And when the farm is good and bought, you'll be there without a thought,
And eternity, my friend, is a long fucking time.
Because there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend,
But baby I'm amazed at the hate that you can send and
You... painted my entire world.
But I... don't have the turpentine to clean what you have soiled.
And I won't forget it.

The wheat waving next to you is healthy and so fine,
As is dinner with your loved ones every day.
But your routine is changeless through the decades of your life,
Green pastures, open spaces, holy ways.
And it must looks pretty appealing,
The crowded festive nights
And the millions of others just like you.
Yeah it must look pretty appealing,
This other world of sin.
We keep dreaming of what other people do.
The person sitting next to you is dismal and deranged
On the bus ride home from work to end your day.
And the food on your table is more plastic than protein,
And your intellect depends on your TV.
And it must look pretty appealing
The pastoral retreat,
And the few pleasant people just like you.
Yeah it must look pretty appealing,
The simple way of life.
We keep dreaming of what other people do.
But we never do what other people do.
You're too scared of other people not like you.

I can recall the warm youth of a summer day, yeah:
The sweetest lemonade, the darkest game arcade,
And Billy had a yearning in the corner of his mind.
It moved him secretly. It moved him powerfully.
But prescience was lacking and the present was not all
And his aptitudes were carelessly wasted.
And challenging life with the abandon of a fool,
He squandered the hours of his day.
Then darkness and disorder slapped him sharply in the face, yeah.
It hit him like a friend, struck something deep within.
He couldn't break the chain of slow decay that seemed to drag him
Just like a fatal tie toward the other side.
And Billy was a lunatic, just barking at the moon,
And his brain was totally wasted.
He then exchanged his friends for a needle and a spoon
And he threw his future away.
Bolt the door and throw away the key.
Your dim reflection is all that you can see.
So where is the justice when no one is at fault
And a human life is tragically wasted?
How fragile is the flame that burns within us all
To light each passing day?

There's a watch in my pocket and its hands are broken.
The face is blank but the gears are turning.
Confusion is a fundamental state of mind.
It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out.
I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in, sanity.
There's a shadow on the wall where the paint is peeling.
My body's moving forward but my mind is reeling.
Depression is a fundamental state of mind.
It doesn't really matter how my day has turned out.
I always end up living in this world of doubt
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity will make you strong
If you believe in sanity.
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in, sanity.

Culture was the seed of proliferation but it's gotten melded
Into an inharmonic whole, to an inharmonic whole.
Consciousness has plagued us and we cannot shake it
Though we think we're in control, though we think we're in control.
Questions that besiege us in life are testament of our helplessness.
There's no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.
When we all disintegrate it will all happen again, yeah.
Time is so rock solid in the minds of the hordes but they can't
Explain why it should slip away, explain why it should slip away.
History and future are the comforts of our curiosity but here we are
Rooted in the present day, rooted in the present day
Questions that besiege us in life are testament of our helplessness.
There's no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.
When we all disintegrate it will all happen again, yeah.
If you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day,
But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away.
And believe these words you hear when you think your path is clear...
We have no control. We have no control.
We have no control, we do not understand.
You have no control, you are not in command.
You have no control. We have no control.
No control. No control. You have no control.

Note: The 'There's no vestige...' line is from Hutton, 1795. So there.

This isn't another new fashion, or a new wave plastic trend.
Everybody's searching for something but in the meantime let's all just pretend.
I've got this feeling and I don't know what it is.
This room is overcrowded, man, and I need air to breathe, yeah.
Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch.
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day.
Big crunch, you know, it's gonna be quite a show.
What comes around always goes around, yeah.
A million hopeless faces dwell within protected walls,
All waiting for a moment in life when they can heed the clarion call.
And it's all so oppressive my mind feels like a sieve.
This city's overcrowded, man, and I need room to live.
Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch.
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day.
Big crunch, you know, it's gonna be quite a show.
What comes around always goes around, yeah.
I think of the countless shadows that have all come and gone,
All suffering in the notion of better things to come.
If you share these beliefs you know I wish you well,
'cause there's no room left in heaven and there's sure no room in hell, yeah.
Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch.
Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day.
Big crunch, you know, it's gonna be quite a show.
What goes around always comes around.

He's the latest superhero with powers so profound.
He can leap a dotted line in just a single bound.
I know you must have seen him in books and magazines.
He's the quintessential mindless modern epicine.
His life is meaningful because he gets things done.
Bang bang he's dead, chalk up another triumph for our hero,
The Automatic Man.
It's true you must have met him, he's your best friend and your foe.
His opinions are determined by the status quo.
A true creature of habit, he smokes three packs a day.
When he has an original thought, he forgets it right away.
He's a paradigm of carefree living.
He's our mentor, disturb him if you can.
He's the answer if your peace of mind is lacking.
He's our savior, he is the common man.
So if you are troubled by the daily bump and grind,
Then take a careful look around and brother you will find...
The Automatic Man.

You've got to quit your little charade and join the freak parade
Now that your road has been paved from conception to your grave.
Enormous things to do, others' practices to eschew,
To be better than you is impossible to do,
But the world won't stop without you.
No, the world won't stop without you.
Your achievements are unsurpassed, you are highly-ordered mass,
But you can bet your ass your free energy will dissipate.
Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are,
An element in a sea of enthalpic organic compounds.
The world won't stop without you.
The world won't stop without you.
You're only as elegant as your actions let you be
A piece of chaos related phylogenetically
To every living organ system, we're siblings, don't you see?
The earth rotates and will revolve without you constantly.
Two billion years thus far, now mister here you are,
An element in a sea of enthalpic organic compounds.
The world won't stop without you.
No, the world won't stop without you.
I said the world won't stop without you.

There's a spectre in the corner of an illustrated page
And a lonesome muted stripling with a rapt remedial gaze
The poverty of his language and the wealth of his emotion
Bring him endless murky musings and unexpected frustration
Angst and madness weave the fabric of his life
Tomorrow might be better
But right now it feels like
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There's a panther wild and proud
Behind the doors of a redolent cage
And an undeveloped intellect
Filled with impotent and static rage
And don't think you're exempt
If you earn a good weekly wage
'cause your neighbor's going crazy
And insanity's contagious!
I know there's so much you want to say
But your tongue gets in the way
And sometimes it feels like
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I know there's so much you want to say
And the tumbrel of your mind gets in the way
It's the same for everybody to degrees
We all get that foggy freeze
And sometimes it feels like
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