Quasi

I went & sold my soul so I could pay my rent,
I waited by the mail, but the check was never sent.
So I called the Devil up, but I just got his machine.
I left an angry message, said I gotta have the green!
I didn't give up then, but I made another plan:
If Satan didn't want my soul I'd sell it to the man.
I tried to find the number, but it wasn't in the book.
I'd get the money anyhow, no matter what it took -
No matter what it took...
No paragon of virtue, at least I'm not a thief -
It's so easily justified but always leads to grief.
So I got a piece of cardboard & made myself a sign.
To sell my soul below the market rate was my design.
I went down on the street & I tried to make the deal.
A Land Rover drove right by with Satan at the wheel.
He saw what I was doing & said "That's not yours to sell!
You'll get your check tomorrow & I'll see your ass in Hell
-
So you'd better spend it well..."

Repair the hull, replace the sails.
The monkey wrestles with the ghost
And a thousand little pleasures form a thin veneer
Over lack of hope.
The captain was rightly murdered by the crew
But now they don't know what to do -
Drifting on the murky Sargasso of the everyday.
Work and slave and skimp and save
And you can buy yourself a bigger cage
And a thousand little cruelties we agree to pretend to ignore.
The ghost has got the monkey by the tail
And all they both can do is wail.
And you and I go drifting by the abandoned vessels of the everyday.

Everday we earn our meager pay
But it takes its toll to play the happy prole.
They buy your labor, try to steal your soul -
Bite the bullet, hold your tongue and play the happy prole.
Paranoid and tired - quit before you're fired.
But they've got you in the hole, so you play the happy prole.
You need the money so you got to play it dumb,
but if you play it long enough it's just what you become.
Pay your rent, pay your bills, pay the doctor for your pills
So you can work another day, as life slips away.

"You only hurt the one you love."
That may be true, but better said:
"You only hurt the one who loves you."
We went through hell just to get to hell -
Die of thirst or drink up from the poisoned well.
If I kept things inside, at least I never lied.
I'm not trying to document my suicide.
You won't live long, but you may write the perfect song;
Please excuse those who choose to not play along.

I know the Ether can never claim the Earth.
Atmospheric gasses cannot remain with dirt.
We purchase pleasure, pay for it with hurt
And we rarely get our money's worth.
See how we grasp at the stars?
They're so far away, you can't even see what's right in front of you.
Flesh wounds heal; broken bones mend
But you're not my friend - I never want to see you again.

Orbiting pods, underwater domes -
We fill our tanks with oxygen to step outside our homes.
Once it was hard, now it's just routine
And I can't tell the difference between people and machine.
Love was a problem for our ancestors;
It's not such a problem anymore.
Breeding as a science proved it has no use at all
And it mostly disappeared when we eliminated war.
There's comfort and control, it's safe for you and me.
News from the surface shows how hard life there can be.
Why live in danger? Why live with pain?
People from the surface find it hard to explain.
And every little thing is strictly monitored;
We're given everything we need.
Fed by I.V., we rarely need to sleep -
There's no pointless dreaming and our happiness is guaranteed.

Common as the cold -
Up for sale, never sold.
Getting older & it shows;
Your disappointment only grows.
& no one seems to care
that you never got your share -
Who said life was fair?
So smile - it's not so bad.
You lost your health -
Never had no wealth;
So tighten up your belt
As you gather dust upon some shelf.
You lost by just a nose
But there's no prize for place or show.
Now, at least, you know.
So smile - it's not so bad.
Tired out & broken down,
You've played the field & made the rounds.
Now you're stuck in this one-horse town -
Your only solace is the sound of melody & verse.
Though your bag's about to burst;
Others have it worse.
So smile - it's not so bad.

Same town, same streets: different worlds.
Same bed, same sheets: different worlds.
Same cloudy sky over you & I -
Same tears; different eyes...
Bon voyage to you, bon voyage to me.
You go by land; I will go by sea.
You can put down roots; I'll drift aimlessly.
Bon voyage to you & me.

You've left at last,
I knew you could,
Leaving nothing to remember you by
Except how to be happy
& how not to care anymore.
Two by two - these things weren't meant for you.
Your call never came,
I wish that it would,
So I could have something to remember you by
Besides the way we fell to pieces
& how not to feel anything.
Two by two - these things weren't meant for you.
It rains today, or are those tears?
Falling from the moon above
That bell in my head
It'll ring till I'm dead.

The summer sun stood up in the sky
& looked back down like it's some kind of eye.
"I've got nothing to hide," I said out loud,
But I feel much better when I'm under a cloud.
So I climbed up the hill of all I've destroyed,
& looked out into the gaping void.
But all I could do was stand & stare,
Though just one more step could have taken me there.
Oh, someday we'll meet beyond the moon -
Someday soon.

Birds fighting in mid-air -
& all the sky is theirs.
Theirs: all of the sky -
Yet they peck another's eye.
Free as a bird...
Or is that just a word?
Oh, to be free -
To free myself from me.

The sun still rises, the moon still shines;
I've seen it over ten-thousand times.
But this may be the year I will disappear.
Come through my window, not through my door;
Leave me a number I can ignore.
Then go tell everyone what we might have done.
& don't mind what you've heard -
It's just an empty word.

Now you are more free
Than you really want to be.
No one holds you in place,
& you're drifting off in space.
& the stars are all you see-
Far away as they can be.
& the star you left behind
Gets dimmer all the time.
& the problems that you made
eventually will fade.
& the work that you have done
Seems better when you're gone.
Far away from everything,
Far away from everywhere;
No one hears you sing,
No one knows you care.

When the dream comes to an end
& I wake up once again,
It's no surprise anymore
When the knock comes on my door.
& I go from place to place
& always see your face;
But you're not there anymore
When the knock comes on my door.
So I stayed awake all night,
Trying to think things right,
& I'm down on the floor
When the knock comes on my door.

Shoot yourself in the leg
& the goose lays the golden egg.
I had that golden egg before,
But it disappeared as I limped out the door.
Never reveal what you know
That the whole thing is just for show:
A cardboard world with painted skies,
Because we all must agree to believe in the lies.
Bring yourself down to your knees
& they'll give you the golden keys.
The keys will open any lock
To an empty room or a Chinese box.
I can forget how I feel
& pretend that it's all for real.
The pot won't call the kettle black
& I don't even feel the knife in my back.
& when we go off to our bed,
After struggling for our bread,
A pleasant dream may stand instead
Of the clamor & noise that goes on in your head.
So carry on like before
& don't listen to me any more.
Don't believe a word I sing
Because it's only a song & it don't mean a thing.

I'm not going to give it up for free anymore
& I don't really care if you label me a whore.
Frayed at the edges, busted at the seams,
I can walk with a song & sleep with my dreams.
You can cover up your chains & call yourself free;
It doesn't really matter - it's all the same to me.
You're the new newest thing; we've seen it all before.
In fact I've seen it many times & I'll see it many more.
You know it won't last; you know it never does -
But better be a has been than to be a never was.
You can get out quick & clean or prolong the agony:
Whichever you prefer - it's all the same to me.
You worship the future like it's some kind of saint,
But it's just like the past with a new coat of paint.
You try to save a world that doesn't want to be saved
& you scold it like a child when you think it's misbehaved.
You can say what you want, or say what you see,
Or you could say nothing - it's all the same to me.