Steppenwolf - The Balance lyrics

Words and music by John Kay Nineteen-hundred-sixty-four We were kids, didn't know about the war Still wasting time in school There were Joe and Sue, Jack and Jim A couple more in the second string All the rest just weren't cool Ah, we'd hang around in our little gang Having dreams, making plans For the outside world But when I see us now I really find it strange How little, how much we've changed In the years gone by I guess it's meant to be that way Jimmy always played the clown It was his way of hanging on to the crowd But when he was down he'd come around To get his hands on every agent known to man No matter how from aspirin to zylatoll Crazy Jimmy tried them all And he was dying but now he's fine For he gets up at five o'clock Runs ten miles in the L.A. smog Still crazy I've heard him say that anything worth really doing Should be done until you're falling down And though he left the road to ruin He's found a new way to the ground He still ain't found his balance Joe was never hard to please When they said "Go" he went overseas into battle He stuck it out to the bitter end Lived like a dog, fought like a man in the saddle And when he came home from Vietnam They said "The war did him no harm" They're lying He's known to cry and scream at times, in his dreams Holding off the nightmares that he sees Time may heal the nightly screaming But the scars will still remain He fights so hard to k** his demon At times the pain drives him insane Trying to regain his balance Jack and Susie lost no tome They went to college and carried signs in the rally And finally with cap and gown They tied the knot and settled down in the valley Oh but now they've got two little boys The place is filled with broken toys and dreams For it seems that Jack, in spite of his degree Moonlights at night, in the factory Susie's got the house and the children But no time for her to grow And Jack is making their first million And until they can't let go I guess they'll owe the balance We don't talk much anymore Seems our little gang is bored with callin' Anyway we're too busy with gettin' on And looking out for number one Is all we got in common With business, home, family Are we ever all that we could be? Trading in our fantasy We live this part time life Of false security Seems to me that doers never dream enough And dreamers often do nothing at all And to find that middle ground is rough But I'll be damned if I let go Stop looking for the balance © 1983 Rambunctious Music (ASCAP)