The Pretender

I'm going to rent myself a house

In the shade of the freeway

I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning

And go to work each day

And when the evening rolls around

I'll go on home and lay my body down

And when the morning light comes streaming in

I'll get up and do it again

Amen

Say it again

Amen



I want to know what became of the changes

We waited for love to bring

Were they only the fitful dreams

Of some greater awakening

I've been aware of the time going by

They say in the end it's the wink of an eye

And when the morning light comes streaming in

You'll get up and do it again

Amen



Caught between the longing for love

And the struggle for the legal tender

Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring

And the junk man pounds his fender

Where the veterans dream of the fight

Fast asleep at the traffic light

And the children solemnly wait

For the ice cream vendor

Out into the cool of the evening

Strolls the pretender

He knows that all his hopes and dreams

Begin and end there



Ah the laughter of the lovers

As they run through the night

Leaving nothing for the others

But to choose off and fight

And tear at the world with all their might

While the ships bearing their dreams

Sail out of sight



I'm going to find myself a girl

Who can show me what laughter means

And we'll fill in the missing colors

In each other's paint-by-number dreams

And then we'll put out dark glasses on

And we'll make love until our strength is gone

And when the morning light comes streaming in

We'll get up and do it again

Get it up again



I'm going to be a happy idiot

And struggle for the legal tender

Where the ads take aim and lay their claim

To the heart and the soul of the spender

And believe in whatever may lie

In those things that money can buy

Thought true love could have been a contender

Are you there?

Say a prayer for the pretender

Who started out so young and strong

Only to surrender


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