Living End

You've seen it all before
You think it's passe
But you listen to the same fucking records
Every single day
You don't like the people who caught on late
If they're having fun

Don't participate, be lethargic
You're a hypocrite, you're the target

A nine digit number
For every living soul
That is all they talk about
At data control
They know everything about you
Keeping secrets is too hard
Your life is all recorded for you
In holes punched in computer cards

Data control (digital readout)
Data control (perforated feedout)
Data control (microfilm files)
Data control (1984 style)

A multinational corporation
A stockholder's dream
A nightmare of diversity
A defense system so supreme
Too technical to talk about
Too complex for layman's brains
It's enough to make you paranoid
Or drive you crazy losers sane

Twenty years ago, saw a friend was walking by
And i stopped him on the street to ask him
How it went, and all he did was cry
I looked him in the face, but i couldn't see past his eyes
Asked him what the problem was, he says "here is your disguise"

Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Old may lays down by the railroad tracks
Got no paper in his pocket, got no paper on his back
I asked him what the time was, he says "hit the road now, jack"
Went back to see him next week
He died of a heart attack and died away

Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Grandma, she got sick, she is going to die
And grandpa had a seizure, moved into a hotel cell and died away
My parents, they just wonder when they both are going to die
And what do i do when they die?

Now i'm hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Government authorize education
[don't mean a thing]
They'll teach you what they want you to think
[don't mean a thing]
Saturation of stars and stripes
[don't mean a thing]
The only freedom worth fighting for is for what you think

Why bother spending time
Reading up on things
Everybody's an authority
In a free land

Well they divided up all the land
And we've got states and cities
Cities have their neighborhoods
And more subdivisions

There's countries divided by walls
Oceans and latitudes
And longitude, longing to find out
Just what they're missing

They're lots of area codes
And nine digit zip codes
Secret decoder ring codes
Arteries, shopping nodes

We'll invent some new computers
Link up the global village
And get ap, upi, and reuters
To tell everybody the news

We'll be one happy neighborhood
Spread out across the world
But who's going to stop that burglar
From breaking in my house
If he lives that far away

We'll be just like old friends
No means to your ends
The police state is to busy
And the neighborhood's getting out of hand

It's not about my politics
Something happened way too quick
A bunch of men who played it sick
They divide, conquer

It's all here before your eyes
Safety is a big disguise
That hides among the other lies
They divide, conquer

Well i expect i won't be heard
Because my silence is assured
Never a discouraging word
They divide and conquer

They divide and conquer

New day rising...

I can hear the treetops in the distance
I can see your hollowed eyes
What have you done to yourself in this instance?
I guess it comes as no surprise

I can see the billboards in the distance
Writing is on every wall
I don't wanna know about your business
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

Every night it's gotta be adventure
The way you live your life's a crime
And if you're guilty, will you serve the sentence?
You're already doing time

There's nothing wrong with having aspirations
Nothing wrong with walking tall
But if misfortune deals the consequences
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

I know the difference, you keep your distance
I don't wanna know what you've got
Is it pathetic to be sympathetic?
Maybe you don't wanna get caught
Caught up in something that's real
That could last for a lifetime
Nothing like the disease
Disease that's in your mind

I can see your life disintegrating
Into ashes in your hand
And i know you wouldn't want to tell me
What is wrong 'cause you're a man

Walking down a sunny street to the library
Checking out the latest books on outer space
Going to the fruit stand to buy a dozen oranges
Then she and the books and the oranges go back to her place

She tells the same old story to everyone that she knows
She's just sitting in her room reading books about ufos

Sometimes i see her sitting on the rooftop
Perched in a lawnchair and staring into the sky
I know that somewhere in some faraway galaxy
That some gray men with telescopes are gazing right into her eyes

Her live revolves around all of the planets
And she is constantly aware of all the changes that occur
I'm going to turn into a lens and focus all my attention
On finding a new planet and naming it right after her

You can do what you want to do
You can say what you want to say
You can think what you think you want
It doesn't matter anyway

It's not funny anymore

Play what you want to play
Hear what you want to hear
Don't worry about the result
Or the effect is has on your career

Act like you want to act
Be what you want to be
Find out who you really are
And don't pay any attention to me

I was talking
When i should have been listening
I didn't hear a word that anyone said
It might not have been so very important
'cause i was concerned about instead
(with)

What's going on
What's going on
What's going on inside my head

There's a girl who lives on heaven hill
I go up to her cabin still
She keeps a lantern lit for me
And a bottle up on her mantelpiece

She's the girl who lives on heaven hill

She's got a big room and it's always a mess
Worn out shoes and a worn out dress
A worn out smile that she'll wear some more
And a worn out welcome mat by her door

I'd trade big mountains and rooms full of gold
For just one look at the beauty of this woman's soul
Up on heaven hill is where i wanna be
That girl that bottle that mattress and me