The girls out on the sidewalk aren't thinking about the strikes
They don't hear the sound of sirens on the north side at night
They speak in misquotations, cliches and paraphrases
of our idols fat and wasted, getting by on our good graces
The boys the knew in school are all off dying in foreign places
while they're dying to impress with their made up facts and faces
They speak in inside jokes, catchphrases and quotes
They wash down pretty little pills to fight the things they fear the most
but when we were young we were too dumb to notice
too drunk to feel it, and too smug to care
Crowding the crosswalks, the cars shoveled past us
We could take the 10 bus to anywhere
They say the road to Armageddon is paved with good intentions
Maybe every starving artist was just starving for attention
but our hero left Chicago so he could die alone
stranded on Long Island seven hundred miles from home
When he was young he was too numb to notice
too drunk to feel it, too smart to win
A neon light Jesus will come back to claim us
The dead and famous will rise again
There's nothing more depressing than a generation racing
It's work or get worked out, run or get run over
take until you're taken or just drink until you're sober