Wasteland

I saw the best of my generation playing pinball

Maked up and caked up

And looking like some kind of china dollWith all of Adolf Hitler's moves down cold

As they stood up in front of a Rock and Roll band

And always moving upward and ever upward

To this gentle golden promised landWith the smartest of them all

Moonlighting as a word processor

And the strongest of them all

Checking IDs outside saloonsAnd the prettiest of all taking off her clothes

In front of men whose eyes look like

They were in some little hick town

Near Omaha, watching the police chief

Run his car off the side of a bridgeI saw men with dreams like the ones I'd had

Beg quarters outside the Seven-Eleven

Till it got so they didn't affect me anymore

Than the mailboxes I'd passed

'Cept that sometimes, I'd put somthing in the mailboxI'd had the wind at my back now I felt it cold in my face

And for an awful long time now

You were the only one who ever called me late at night

And I really never noticed till after you stopped calling

And the emptiness, silence got so heavyBroken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land

Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land

Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland

Broken up in the wastelandI saw dead Marilyn Monroe

Strung up on every street corner in Hollywood

Like some two bit whore offering a discount rate

And I wondered how Joe Dimaggio feltI saw dead James Dean's ghost

Wandering the sidewalk looking troubled

And I wondered how his mama feltI saw signs that said, "Headshots done for cheap"

Signs that said, "Extras wanted, top dollars paid"

Signs for 'Haircuts' and signs for 'Manicures'

And signs for "Tanning salons" and signs for 'Wardrobe specialists

Signs for "Cosmetic surgery' and signs for 'Assertiveness training'

And I stopped to read them allAnd every single block looked like every single block

Looked like every single block looked like every single block

But she kept driving 'cause everyone else kept driving

And 'cause gridlock is evil and not knowing anywhere is evilAnd those who had money looked good

But weren't too happy and those who didn't have money

Didn't look so good and weren't too happy either

And in a city of three million, two hundred and sixty nine thousand

Nine hundred eighty four, everyone was lonelyBroken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land

Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land

Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland

Broken up in the wastelandAnd I watched as everyone I knew spent their lives

Trying to be watched on stage

Watched on film or listened to on a record

And they thought, "Well, maybe that way

I could get a little love out of this life"And I watched as the best of my generation

Abandoned their dreams and settled for making a little money

I watched TV, read the papers, listend to the radio

And made all the fancy scenes

And said all the right words and wore all the right clothes

And knew the names of the hip peopleBut I still felt out of touch so I stopped watching TV

And reading the papers and listening to the radio

And making the fancy scenes and saying the right words

And wearing the right clothes and knowing the names of the hip people

And I felt more out of touch than ever but I didn't care anymoreAnd I felt you slipping away and I felt myself slipping from you

And I wanted more than anything else

For it to rain for one whole day like it used to

But all there ever was was sun, relentless sun, hot beating sunAnd everyone wore their sunglasses

And walked around like flies under magnifying glass

With their eyes removedBroken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land

Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land

Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland

Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland

Broken up in the wasteland