You sit and think that everything is coming up roses But you can't see the weeds that entangle your feet You can't see the wood for the trees 'cause the forest is burning And you say it's the smoke in your eyes that's making you cry They sold you the view from a hill They told you that the view from the hill would be Further than you have ever seen before They sold you a view from a hill They sold you a view from a hill You were a dancer and a chancer, a poet and a fool To the royalty of mayhem you were breaking all the rules Your decadence outstanding, your hopes flying high One eye looking over your shoulder, one eye on the hill You used to say you were scared of heights - you said you got dizzy You said you didn't like your feet being too far off the ground But they said that up there you'd find the air would be clearer Promised you more space to move and more room to breathe They sold you a view from a hill They told you that the view from the hill Is further than you'd ever seen before You were holding out forever - thought they'd never turn your mind Your ideals they were higher than you ever could have climbed We thought they couldn't buy you - that the price would be too high That the riches there on offer they just wouldn't turn your eyes But your conscience it was locked up in the prisons of your schemes Your judgement it was blinded by your visions and your dreams Praying and hoping that the view from the hill Is wider than you've ever seen before For the view from the hill we held our heads so high (smell the roses) All the loved ones that you lied to are strangers left behind All the ones that really mattered well you stood on as you climbed You were holding out forever for your fathers and your peers Holding out for everyone that ever walked in here The edge was inside and you rode it all the way You were playing the games that you learned yesterday Hanging around like a fool with a name You are holding your place for the view, the view from a hill They sold you the view from a hill Look it all for a view from a hill And you find the view's no further than you've seen before They sold you the view from the hill And you stood and took it all for the view from a hill It's simply coming up roses