The Pretender

I'm going to rent myself a house In the shade of the freeway Gonna pack my lunch in the morning And go to work each day

And when the evening rolls around I'll go on home and lay my body down And when the morning light comes streaming in I'll get up and do it again, Amen Say it again, Amen

I want to know what became of the changes We waited for love to bring Were they only the fitful dreams Of some greater awakening?

I've been aware of the time going by They say, in the end, it's the wink of an eye When the morning light comes streaming in You'll get up and do it again, Amen

Caught between the longing for love And the struggle for the legal tender Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring And the junk man pounds his fender Where the veterans dream of the fight Fast asleep at the traffic light And the children solemnly wait For the ice cream vendor

Out into the cool of the evening Strolls the pretender He knows that all his hopes and dreams Begin and end there

(Ah the laughter) ah, the lovers as they run through the night (Leaving nothing) leaving nothing but to choose off and fight And tear at the world with all their might While the ships bearing their dreams Sail out of sight

I'm gonna find myself a girl Who can show me what laughter means And we'll fill in the missing colors In each other's paint-by-number dreams

And then we'll put our dark glasses on And we'll make love until our strength is gone And when the morning light comes streaming in We'll get up and do it again Get it up again

I'm gonna be a happy idiot And struggle for the legal tender Where the ads take aim and lay their claim To the heart and the soul of the spender And believe in whatever may lie In those things that money can buy Where true love could have been a contender

Are you there? Say a prayer for the pretender Who started out so young and strong only to surrender

Say a prayer for the pretender Are you there for the pretender? Say a prayer for the pretender Are you there for the pretender? Are you prepared for the pretender?