Up at the windows Of unseen wards Traffic control behind Mind control ahead Some people take my breath away Some people leave me cold Neon lights go on We're all cruising along The belts and the buckles, the scars on our knuckles The tears and the battles that strengthen our shackles The friends and the traitors, the solemn tailgaters The tired fell-runners who train through the summer You hit and you hope Along desire lines You hit and you hope This is your last chance The sea-bed monsters who wander amongst us The anxious note-writers, night-frighters, nail-biters If they lay down more speed ramps we'll take to the seas If they put up more barbed wire we'll just learn to fly
If they cut down more trees we'll go underground If they snuff out more lives, oh Lord, I don't know where to run The terrain is looking rough And littered with trash While you're upstairs sleeping it off She's being turned over by a long-distance lover The cotton-eyed snipers, the jail-bait juicers The princes of thieves and the nurses of bruises The warts on our fingers, the throats of our singers The mystery jets and the truth that they bring us The smiles of the cynics, the self-absorbed mimics The rest of the people who don't know their limits The boots and the laces, the hooks in our faces The best of the fighters, the worst of the useless