Living With The Big Lie

It all began with the bright light
The bright light and the noise
The chaos of the senses
And the scream of desire

Touchin' and bein' touched
A million lose ends to tie up
Tickin' of the clock
And the cradle rock

The colors stand still
And then they move around
Comin' in and out of focus
Upside down

Empty winter trees
How space feels
Love of the soft
Flowers and the sky

One fine day
The chaos subsides
Bleeds into awareness
And a lifetime of surprise

The beauty of your mother's eyes
The pain when you fall
You drink it in and marvel at it all
But you never really figure it out
You get used to it

The babble of the family
And the dumb TV
Roar of the traffic
And the thunder of jets

Chemicals in the water
Drugs in the food
The heat of the kitchen
And the beat of the system

The attitude of authority
And the laws and the rules
Hit me square in the face
First morning at school

The heroes and the zeros
The first love of my life
When to kiss and to kick
And to keep your head down
When they're choosin' the sides

I was never any good at it
I was terrified most of the time
I never got over it
I got used to it

Alone in the city
At seventeen
With the hollow, the lonely
The drowning and the drowned

I was made to feel worthless, the wretched and the mean
Beat me up like a weapon
I can't run away from or find a way 'round
Holdin' on, holdin' on

The greed and the missiles
Exploding somewhere every day
Hideous dark secrets under the sea
And in holes in the ground

The cold war's gone
But those bastards'll find us another one
They're here to protect you, don't you know?
So get used to it, get used to it

Oh, the clash of religions
And the loaded prayers
Information the face of starvation
And the state of the nation

The sense that it's useless
And the fear to try
Not believin' the leaders, the media that feeds us
Livin' with the big lie

You get used to it
Hey, you get used to it
It's okay, it's okay, you get used to it