Zen Arcade

He lives in his imagination, with those friends of his very own
He doesn't get along with the outside world, he'd rather be alone
Sometimes, when it's late at night, he starts to wonder why
(the plans he made can never happen, so all he does is cry).

His parents, they can't understand why their son, he turned out wrong
He runs away from all the pain and forgets them when he's gone
He'd rather be all by himself because his plans, they seem the best.
He finally gets the nerve one day and now life becomes a test.

Mom and dad, i'm sorry
Mom and dad, don't worry
I'm not the son you wanted, but what could you expect?
I've made my world of happiness to combat your neglect.

If there's one thing that i can't explain
Is why the world has to have so much pain
With all the ways of communicating
We can't get in touch with who we're hating

So turn on turn on turn on the news

I hear it every day on the radio
Somebody shoots a guy he don't even know
Airplanes falling out of the sky
A baby is born and another one dies
Highways fill with refugees
Doctors finding out about disease
With all this uptight pushing and shoving
That keeps us away from who we're _loving_

Told you everything i knew about me
Didn't listen to a word i say
Spill my guts, you just threw them away

Never cared about me
Only wanted to be your friend,
Now i know that it's gotta end

Never cared a thing about me,
And now, i will

I will never forget you
I will never forgive you

Been through mass destruction once, but once was not enough
Said we want a second chance, and all they say is tough
A world where science went too far, there's no way to survive
Why can't we get this thing straightened out, i want to stay alive

They burned and bombed the east and north and there's no place left to go
The sun belt's overcrowded, so let's annex mexico
The peso's only worth a dime, but they've got all that land
No need for a civil war, we know they'll understand, right?

Is that how you like it?

Factories left unattended, crumbling to the ground
We tried to keep them running, but there's no more oil around
We used it all to fight a war that neither side could win
Vietnam was little league compared to where we've been

Now we live in caves and huts, and we don't have pay tv
And everyone is signing up for the newest industry
Standard oil goes solar power, all try to make a buck
So i'll sit around and smoke cigarettes, and i'll babble "what the fuck?"

Going out each day to score
She was no whore
But for me
Celebrating every day
The way
She thought it should be

And i don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue

She was always by my side
And never tried
To leave
Standing up for me
And like a tree
For what she believed

No more rope
And too much dope
She's lying on the bed
Angels pacing
Gently placing
Roses 'round her head

I picked up my belongings in a nylon carry-all
I hear the porter call
Said "the sky's the limit on this chartered trip away,"
I guess i'd better stay

Out there on the desert, i see trees on every wall
Nothing's ever solved
Said "the sky's the limit on this chartered trip away,"
Guess i'd better stay away

I thought i owed myself a trip away
I wanted to go to places i have never been away
I looked at the pictures, imagine where they lay
Away on a beach by the sand, where their clothes all lay away

Horizon is oblivious, chartered trip away
Said "there's no returning from this chartered trip away."

It's a one-horse town
One big desert
Asphalt desert
Asphalt jungle

Beyond the threshold, beyond the threshold

Change for the worse
Change nonetheless
Hey hey hey
Got no place to stay

I hear machines
They burst at the seams
But tar and feather
All stick together

Greetings from home
I wish you were here
Hear what i say but
You can't hear me at all

There are things that i'd like to say
But i'm never talking to you again
There's things i'd like to phrase some way
But i'm never talking to you again

I'm never talking to you again
I'm never talking to you
I'm tired of wasting all my time
Trying to talk to you

I'd put you down where you belong
But i'm never talking to you again
I'd show you everywhere you're wrong
But i'm never talking to you again

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