"Well I make my living in the swamps and woods Sleeping wherever I please My next meal is going to be whatever I catch Which I can do with relative ease And right across the highway is a special place Where, if my hunting skills let me down Sometimes haute cuisine is just out there sitting around It's a magic turkey porch; it even keeps off the rain Just one of those wonderful things I can't explain, but I like it Now every once in a while a giant looms On the other side of the glass Once one of them tried to grab me But he was none too clever or fast It's a small price to pay, a good risk to take When you factor in the bill of fare And right about now seems to great time to head over there To the magic turkey porch and while often you come up dry If you ain't got nothing to sell You can still get by and that's why I like it" That's about how things must seem To the critters who saunter up my back steps None of them comprehend what's happening Each one simply accepts All y'all wasting your life trying to die super-rich There's so much you'll never learn Like how it feels to do a dumb animal a silent turn On the magic turkey porch -- it sounds but isn't mundane Just one of those wonderful things I can't explain But I like it, yes I like it

Strong central government or states' rights? Who should get to vote: just the men or just the whites? Complicated business, political stuff Fuel for sound arguments? More than enough And it comes down to red versus blue Another round of Red Versus Blue It doesn't matter what you say or do It's just gonna come down to red versus blue Foreign and domestic policy Which laws are dumb? Which are necessary? Tell me which platform so-and-so supports Oh, you don't know? Let me guess: you're into taxpayer sports So it comes down to red versus blue Was your favorite team your daddy's favorite too? It never matters what is best or true It always goes back to red versus blue On only one subject are both wings agreed Well-informed poor folk are the last thing they need They got to tell it like it is and still keep it how it was Who'll be in control? I know for sure it's never been us 'Cause it comes down to red versus blue Round 99 of "Let's see who we can screw" Brand new kitchen, same old deadly stew It's gonna come down to red versus blue

We've got books and games all day We've got TV and video games to play We've got everything we could ever want and everything's OK There are billions of people all around With all the noise, I say in my head, "Take your voice down" Sometimes, it's hard to concentrate Sometimes the Earth doesn't seem that great We don't have to listen all day We don't have to listen to what they say If you limit what your everything is, you'll be good to go Life will find a way And then you'll realize everything's OK We've got everyday issues all year You've got to earn money from your overseer Beautiful things get harder to see Soothing sounds seem harder to hear You have to live off a terribly boring career The park is still as pretty as it ever was Music doesn't have that old annoying fuzz You can't beat the system But you don't have to play the game Keep it in the pocket of your mind that everything's OK It doesn't matter if the world is quiet Just that you're not always focusing on it It doesn't matter if you get way The only thing that matters is it's OK It's true that the world will eventually end You will in fact lose every friend But by the time the big problems start to kick in You'll be long dead so everything's OK I feel fine, we're at the end of the line Think about it, why would I lie And that remains the question How and why 'cause everything's OK Everything's OK and I feel fine Everything's OK, we're at the end of the line We've got words and music every day Just remember that everything's OK Keep it as a notion, why would I lie Keep this in the back of your head And remember that everything's OK, everything's OK

When I’m older I’ll be smarter and wiser too I’ll always have something to do But that time hasn’t come yet, but it will happen soon I bet That’s why we have to enjoy these years Pretty soon we’ll have to get careers But I assure you it won’t happen when I’m 13 The big problems won’t start to arise Stronger and braver with attentive eyes You must realize and I do too The problems for me but not when I’m 13 It’s just a number that isn’t real, it’s really not a big deal My voice is already going down The world is changing all around And that’s bad, it makes me mad But family comes to me to make me glad But it still won’t matter when I’m 13 The only thing that really changes is my age And my abilities including rage Whatever happens when I’m 13 of today Life will find a way When I’m 13 I’ll grow tremendously Curious things will happen, accidental or intentionally Things are changing every day Including my time left to live But I won’t give up when I’m 13 When I’m older I’ll be happier and sadder too I’ll sometimes have hard things to do But the time hasn’t come; of my final Intel, I’ll gain some But for now, well I’m not dumb I could be a lot smarter, but that’s for when I’m 13 The big issues won’t start to happen Money and houses, issues with the landlord That’s for when I’m older, not by much But not quite when I’m 13, when I’m 13

No need to get mental, judge, or defensive But a pound of gavel’s gotten mighty expensive And the nice lady holding the scales Has a hand on her thigh, if I may reproach the bench Our justice system ain’t as just as it could be But it’s just enough, yeah it’s just enough to get by So suing won’t challenge his fiscal fitness How your boss got rich, well it’s none of your business His salary cap’s further beyond reach than the sky Now the check he throws you is a well-nibbled bone So it ain’t as much as it might be But you’ll make just enough, yeah just enough to get by It must have come as a shock When we who do their bidding Were loudly proclaimed to be quietly quitting An honest employee’s supposed to believe in the lie The law and the market, the ways of the world Have never been as they should be So baby, do just enough, yeah just enough to get by

Just when everything’s going great A hurricane strikes and it won’t abate And when I saw you, I couldn’t explain Because of one loose screw The whole damn plane goes down Who can say how it feels? Words are the weakest shadows of emotions now And then suddenly the sun comes back out Even though I’m strong and a faithful believer I cry so hard and hide within The perfect general still couldn’t win every war It’s strange and unknown, how the hurt mind heals Words are lost in a swirl of emotion clouds And then mysteriously the sun comes back out Right as everything seems so lost Time grinds the boulder into dust And I am not at their mercy any more

Welcome to the real world I see you’ve studied hard for many years So you want to chase your passion Already you’ve put in some blood and sweat and tears You came out of a coal town with nothing but ambition Apollo has been suitably impressed Worry not, young protostar Soon you’ll know the sweet smell of success He’s got all the connections Reputation, know-how, weight, and clout You’re lucky that he found you Many of your sort grew old seeking him out Slacks in a heap around his Guccis Oily fingers on his phone Your career is on the line, so do your best Hold your hand out, smile, and pucker up Are you ready for the sweet smell of success?

I can leap from crib to hearse, explore another universe Peace affords a different way to see Where can peace be found? Not one noisy brain around Ego death beneath a swaying tree The air grows still at a random time of day Now listen close: the matrix almost disappears And when or if it ever happens to you Nothing else will ever compare Nature bids you look within; join the forest now and Zen The mind affords a different way to be

Take apart this building; it must be done today Some stuff you can donate and throw the rest away But save the bottom of this door I’ll tell you what I want it for Leave it alone; keep the flaws just as they are Perfection would erase what is a story, not a scar Every scratch is a time he wanted in This damaged junk is the closest I’ll ever come to touching a long-lost friend The past belongs behind you But remember whence you came Otherwise the future will always be the same And keep a few things that are broken Because your most treasured tales Can only be felt and never spoken Leave it alone when you see somebody cry You don’t have to go and fix it ’Cause feelings are all right Life isn’t perfect; good times are going to go bad You can’t ever make anyone happy But you can make it so no one’s ashamed to be sad Leave it alone; keep the flaws just as they are Perfection would erase what is a story, not a scar Every mind has a deep well full of pain Don’t go crazy trying to empty it Just leave it alone and let it rain

This may feel like a bumpy ride Especially if you stay inside Take another look at what it is that makes you hide Personal problems come and go Just like people themselves, as you know Most of them lived and died without ever having tried To understand or even ask the reason behind A single lifelong task Have you really done your very best? What do you say we put you to the test? Are your days a dance of want and waste? Do you stare at the ground or the sky? Stuck at the bottom of our fish bowl It’s easy to forget your role Each of us once mistook A small part to be the great big whole So far humans have only explored One note in the cosmic chord Distance will exact its toll And we’re light-ages from the goal Working away all prime-of-life long without ever thinking “Something about this is wrong” Does it matter if you’re rich or poor? Don’t you wonder if there’s something more? Is the rat race the best use of your time and space? Do your instructions say to ask why? See the stars? Every one is a story that hasn’t yet begun You and me here and now are nothing more or less Than a magic moment which no wheel revolves around To be alive and know the past To comprehend that nothing ever lasts Human beings, we evolved to win a simpler game Wilderness survival’s given way To problems no one’s solved The black hole at the center of the galaxy Our agonizing struggle for liberty Are pages in a book which - for now Kids don’t have to pay to see Mass production, planned obsolescence Golf for nobles, football for peasants Don’t let the present be The crowning achievement of humanity Time holds our fate, but how we have grown We’re ready to find out if we are really alone What’s the purpose of what we build? Are our leaders going to get us all killed? Is depending on a happy ending a matter of faith Or shall we ask why? Day by day the universe opens up And the world gets worse We can change certain things; will we do just enough To get by and will doing that be enough For what tomorrow brings? See the stars? Every one is a story that hasn’t yet begun You and me here and now are nothing more or less Than a magic moment which no wheel revolves around When fools speak, loud means weak None need worry us save the deep-end warriors We have always been ruled by madmen And the fact is due To the way things were in 12,000 B.C. That world is gone, but the cavemen are hanging on Every now and then a voice of reason chimes in on cue You are free to listen And that’s the only way you are really free Why are we here if not to change our own destiny? Have you really done your very best? Do you put yourself to the test? Are your days still a dance of want and waste? Must you stare at the ground, not the sky? To be alive and know the past To comprehend that nothing ever lasts Human beings, we evolved to win a simpler game Wilderness survival’s given way To problems no one’s solved Day by day the universe opens up And the world gets worse We can change certain things; will we do just enough To get by and will doing that be enough For what tomorrow brings? And I wonder why we’re here to wonder “Why are we here?”