Now he's got a good job Pays well In a world of round holes Squares don't oft excel Born a little wild child Is he on his meds? Iron out the wrinkles Sand away the edge Picking up on subplots No one else could catch But losing sight of foreground Failing all the tests A little isolation Goes a long way We do it for his own good You misunderstood Your time is up, your pencils down, you're the class clown You won't get far on American daydreams Hide your smirk, show your work, and get Cs The clay of you that's shaped by me Forget the I become the we Right angled edges to pi squared depressions The kids know you're different, you fuckup, you idiot With all of these round holes, a square never fits in But now he's got his shit together Traded all his flair for fetter And now he's got a good job

One foot in Cali and one in the car Gonna be a rockstar Got no job, got no money, I've made it this far Good God, save me Jesus, you're trying too hard Ninety-nine degrees in the human bazaar Check the doppler radar There's no rain for the moment, but don't go too far I've got bottled water in the back seat of my Jaguar A healthy dose of pleasure Synthesized, but it will do the trick, you'd never know The City of the Flies Caught in the most peculiar web of lies you've ever known I'll pose the question Would it be so wrong To settle down on the verge of independence? Would it be so wrong To save face in the face of all this opposition? Would it be so wrong To sit one out, and get shuffled in the wheel? Would it be so wrong To die young, if by ninety-nine I've done fuckall? Saving it for later or for all I can stand Got the doorknob in my hand Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, I walked in the room Good God, save me Jesus, a little too soon Resting my head after hours of trying You wouldn't believe it, the death I've been dying But I found a proxy, a dramatization It's not what I live for, but it's consolation The City of the Flies Caught in the most peculiar web of lies you've ever known I'll pose the question Would it be so wrong To settle down on the verge of independence? Would it be so wrong To save face in the face of all this opposition? Would it be so wrong To sit one out, and get shuffled in the wheel? Would it be so wrong To die young, if by ninety-nine I've done fuckall? Would it be so wrong to join a cover band? And rest my head on someone else's songs? (But let me tell ya you'll make a lot of money) City's full of spiders And pitcher plants so sweet Drink a little nectar friend You'll never leave Would it be so wrong To settle down on the verge of independence? Would it be so wrong To save face in the face of all this opposition? Would it be so wrong To sit one out, and get shuffled in the wheel? Would it be so wrong To die young, if by ninety-nine I've done...

Hey Handshake and name My twenty twenties They start today I'm wide awake Yeah wide awake My twenty twenties They start today Come Please take a seat I'll get you started Something to eat Something to drink Oh if you like We got a special tonight I think you might like to try We spare no expense Our assets your excess Our patrons can relax We're right off the train tracks Conveniently located Five star hotel, rated Best by the Town Mouse Our frozen margaritas on the house Welcome to Charlie's Pub n' Grill Can I take your order, get your drinks, and run the bill So raise a glass to my decline Glamour, charm, and romance come at too steep of a price Cash From the hotel These fuckin' assholes Don't tip so well They're VIPs Oh by the way You parked your Mercedes in a fire lane And as we speak It's trickling down Into my landlord's Third bank account I'll take the train I need an out But to get a ticket I'd have to have an employee discount We spare no expense Our assets your excess Our patrons can relax You don't need no face mask Conveniently located Five star hotel, rated Best by the Town Mouse Our twenty twenty twenties on the house Welcome to Charlie's Pub n' Grill Can I take your order, get your drinks, and run the bill So raise a glass to my decline Glamour, charm, and romance come at too steep of a price Vodka tonic, whiskey, rum, tequila, that's right Margaritas on the house tonight We're coping any way we can But I'll never get a ticket at the rate that they demand Señorita, I complete ya, night's still young Guarantee ya really need a night undone Baby make me a Margarita, mamma mia, I go numb "Where I come from, when I was young..." It's hard to heed ya, when it's hard to feed a house of one "We can't afford to pay you more, 'cause..." We spare no expense Our assets your excess Our patrons can relax We're right off the train tracks Conveniently located Five star hotel, rated Best by the Town Mouse Our frozen margaritas on the house Welcome to Charlie's Pub n' Grill Can I take your order, get your drinks, and run the bill So raise a glass to my decline Glamour, greed and gluttony all part of the design Vodka tonic, whiskey, rum, tequila, that's right Margaritas on the house tonight We're coping any way we can But I'll never get a ticket at the rate that they demand Handshake and name My twenty twenties They start today I'm wide awake Yeah wide awake My twenty twenties They start today

We were driving U.S. Highway 41 You were young and I was young Yellow light cut through the night 80, humid, foggy, bright The moon was new, the streets were wet Up since twilight sun had set Black sky dwindling, dawn was yet to come So why'd I go and write this down? Do you remember having time to spare? Is the future just as we had it become? Because it caught me unaware So why'd I go and write this down? Do you remember having time to breathe? Is the future just as we had it become? It's only just begun

Home invasion, home invasion No alarms, no alarms Come a-creepin' 'round the corner Does no harm, does no harm Oh I've never felt like this before And I prescribe my own dose No attraction, no approval, no reward Has ever even come close Newfound nectar made just for me So brilliant yet so brief No such sugar tastes sweet as thee I'm shaking like a leaf on a tree Who're you trying to fool? Just let go Home invasion, home invasion No alarms, no alarms Come a-sneakin' up behind you Does no harm, does no harm Got a library at my fingertips Open seven days a week Fantasize, normalize, advertise Desensitize and defeat Dihydroxyphenethylamine So brilliant yet so brief Such false fortune beguiles me I'm shaking like a leaf on a tree Whatchu trying to prove? Just let... Overdosing on dopamine So blissful yet so bleak Fashion you from the clay of me I'm shaking like a leaf on a tree Who're you trying to fool? Just let go

I've got that cough again I'm bleeding paychecks buying medicine Land of the free to choose Your body, your mind, your money Die of pneumonia in your twenties Your beating heart on lease Left ol' Hippocrates behind A thousand dollar consultation Treatment more lucrative than cures unsung Wipe out your savings first Then up to your neck in debit Bury your child with their college fund

Just you wait One day I'll make me a million Just you wait Story to tell all your children Just you wait Any day now, any day Just you wait When I grow up I'll be something Just you wait Molding the me I'm becoming Just you wait Any day now, any day Just you wait, wait and see See the me I was born to be Bright bulbs blind my beaming eyes In the City of the Flies Just you wait, wait and see See the me I will never be Riding high on dopamine Dreaming big and loud and free Just you wait All things happen for a reason Just you wait Soon as it happens, I'll seize it Just you wait You go on ahead, I'll catch up later Just you wait Any day now, any day I will wait Why take so long to reveal it? I will wait Surely it's coming I feel it Just you wait Any day now, any any day

You live or you survive Completely sleep deprived Best two out of three Another Sunday night Best three out of five Best four out of seven A Friday night divine Direct deposit signed Best five out of nine It's fleeting but it's fine All part of the design Best six of eleven The days only started getting shorter last week We got a long way to go before the leaves fall down But I've got a penny burning in my purse Put on your favorite sweater, spend the whole night out Down by the riverfront You can make a reservation cheap at Charlie's Down by the riverfront You can book the penthouse suite for a song So sing with me and follow up into the sky The elevator ride Shed your worries and your wrongs It's fleeting but it's fine All part of the design Come on baby, come on Waste away my petty days Sunbathing in the rain again Ooh I waste away my petty days You'll find me down by the riverfront, where the fuck you think I been? Tickets to the show tonight Dressed to impress, all the while I've been up so stressed I abandon all my virtue in a breath I need a holiday, I need to get away From the City of the Flies The elevator ride Penthouse vertigo It's fleeting and it's fine All part of the design Save your troubles for tomorrow Waste away my petty days Sunbathing in the rain again Amen! I'll waste away my petty days You'll find me down by the riverfront, where the fuck you think I been? Waste away my idle time With a rubber bullet in my eye I turn my blinded sight to death decried You'll find me down by the riverfront, the water helps me sleep at night Hey I got my way I got my want I got my Jaguar parked out front I got my say I got my lay I got no reason to complain I got my way I got my crown Now let's all have another round No money down No shipping rate Your free trial starts today I waste away my petty days Sunbathing in the rain again Waste away my petty days You'll find me down by the riverfront, where the fuck you think I been? Waste away my petty days Sunbathing in the rain again Waste away my petty days You'll find me down by the riverfront, where the fuck you think I been? Would it be so wrong To shut my eyes Would it be so wrong to spend The time you're lent C'mon, you'll find me down by the riverfront, where the fuck you think I been?

Gentrify, stratify, catch the last express to paradise Tickets cost a tidy price in the city soon to fossilize Close up shop, waive your claim, and let the market regulate Leaving town, desolate a generation born to liquidate So catch the train, if you can, it's the last express to paradise Watered down with melted ice There comes a time that you might just find a stranger in your bedsheets And you picked them up for an easy fuck, and you finally ask yourself Would it be so wrong to want a little more? Is this really all that I can be? Life could be so lovely If I could find the time But my twenty thirty thirties called I owe him money Would it be so wrong to join a cover band And rest my head on someone else's songs? (But, let me tell ya you'll make a lot of money) Water down my passion And sabotage my dreams My twenty ten thirteens just called I owe him that at least Would it be so wrong to chase the real thing And fuck it up with purpose and with pride? (But, let me tell ya you'll die without a penny) City's full of spiders And pitcher plants so sweet I drank my fill, but I'm no fuller Checked the can, and it was sugar-free There comes a time that you might just find you're sleeping in on Mondays Giving all you got didn't change a lot, and you finally ask yourself Is it worth it Putting on a smile to make them happy? They said that we would fly high We were never gonna die Oh! Were they oblivious, or telling us a lie? The verdict's out on that But the City of the Flies was not as advertised What's the fucking point? There comes a time that you might just find a stranger in the mirror It's cliché, but god, you know it's true

Lost my innocence, lost my soul Lost my diligence, lost my self-control Never asked to do, always told Somewhere 'long the way, lost a hand to hold Molded, measured, and left alone Rip out your anger, replace it with languor Then levied, emptied, and turned to stone Rip out your passion, replace it with cash and disdain A sink, a stove, a home, a household pet A dollar that I never got to spend A roof, a room, a twin size bed A check just big enough to cover rent Gotta pay to park, gotta pay to breathe And after all, you lose your heart in the spider's web they weave A foe, a friend, a hypocrite Three ideologies that all conflict I need your help, but don't take mine I hate to say it, but I must admit I don't have the time, I don't have the patience Relationship built to exhaust, I can't recall the day I Lost my innocence, lost my soul Lost my diligence, lost my self-control Never asked to do, always told Somewhere 'long the way, lost a hand to hold Molded, measured, and left alone Rip out your anger, replace it with languor Then levied, emptied, and turned to stone Rip out your passion, replace it with cash and disdain Handshake and name My twenty twenties They start today I'm wide awake Yeah wide awake My twenty twenties They start today I sign my name I woke up first, to cold embrace The City desolate and soon erased But in the here and now I'm fine Make memories apathy will soon replace Guess I missed the train, guess I missed my chance The last express to paradise has left the station, left me Shaking like a leaf in the wind I throw the towel in Glamour, charm, and romance at a cost Where do I begin? I guess I Lost my innocence, lost my soul Lost my diligence, lost my self-control Never asked to do, always told Somewhere 'long the way, lost a hand to hold Molded, measured, and left alone Rip out your anger, replace it with languor Then levied, emptied, and turned to stone Rip out your passion, replace it with cash and disdain Handshake and name My twenty twenties They start today I'm wide awake Yeah wide awake My twenty twenties They start today I sign my name After proving you belong After having sold your song Looking back you realize You were the product all along Dance for companionship Dance for your class exam Dance for your chance to grow old and represent a brand Dance for your board and bed Dance for your medicine Dance for your ration of nectar from the pitcher plant Dance for your dignity Dance for your promised land Dance, monkey, dance for your chance to grab a winning hand Dance to the riverfront Your music's getting bland You danced away all your flair to join a cover band Bit by bit you auction off your focus Melancholic, misanthropic, made the big promotion Bit by bit you lose sight of your motives Burning all the bridges crossed, barely even noticed that I Lost my innocence, lost my soul Live in ignorance, loving all night long Burning alcohol through my veins Jaded, cynical, hopeful all the same No way back to the way you were You can't fight forever, it's a futile endeavor I pledge allegiance to customer So put on your smile, if just for a while Now mold yourself from the clay I hold Tenderness wasted, replace it with hatred Then emptied, frenzied and turned to stone Kill your compassion, replace it with cash and decay Handshake and name My twenty twenties They start today I'm wide awake Yeah wide awake My twenty twenties They start today Set the controls Heart of the sun We're burning brightly But we'll be gone before the song is even done More dopamine Next up to come My twenty twenties Had just begun And now they're done Bitter penthouse suite farewell, five-star hotel, it's over now Take the elevator downtown to Charlie's for the snack bar Just you wait, just you wait, everybody here drives a jaguar Wish I could, wish I would, wish I learned to play on that guitar Waiting on the world to come around I'm wide awake, but still I'm dreaming Finally, got some savings now, I've stashed away about a thousand Jack fell down and broke his crown, tell me, genius, what's the plan now? Just one accident away from insolvency, plain and simple Just one accident away, cough it up, you cheap, lazy cripple Admin said my healing hands are tied What kinda sick game are you playing? Tell me how to be content, I'll take your word, and all it meant One day you could be president, real go-getter, top one percent Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, roll the dice for lesser, for greater Give it up, give it up, everybody does sooner or later Running out of money, out of time I'm wide awake, but I stopped dreaming Gave up all but breathing Empty, but at least that stops the bleeding Highest bid can have my soul Now I fit that rounded hole Take me off the payroll Send me home Through your lips my name lastly uttered Ten meager years from the machine Poster Child Americana Chased the patriotic daydream As I spend my final dollar Trickle up to join the sea Ushered into the City gently Molded to product sold and bought Stomach full, but spirit empty Pointless race we always lost Though they may have promised plenty In the end we pay the cost

All of the places I've been All of the beauty that I have seen All of the "come over here's" and the "dance with me honey's" All of the years wasted for the money All of the songs I've discarded All of the cliché lyrics I wrote down All of the warning lights that we never regarded All of the holidays with Charlie Brown All of the pages ineptly authored Judge not by we All subject to the almighty dollar I hope you see And when you bury my body Make sure the rocks and stones, they crush my bones Don't want to wake up in 3030 We tried our best, I'm sorry All of a sudden you're oh so close Then all at once I've been scattered free So long to buying, selling, bleeding, dying Erase my browsing history A generation of wasted wanderers Made just like me All subject to the almighty dollar Nothing but death is free