you cheer your misfits, your ne'er-do-beans
as they unlock the doors of the gilded mainstream
whose offerings you daily with practice demean
and further mock loudly with your deeply-held sneer
popularity and its long-sought
treasure mocks your hard-fought
values
and store-bought shallows
and I ask the
outsiders and the feelers,
the artists and the healers
and the would-be poets (in residence)
the bigger the crowd, the better you're doing
despite all the posing, it's fame you're pursuing
as they lay palms in your path and cheers
acclamation and applause
fame and glory for a cause
confuse
the crowd to be bought or to lose
but I tell the
lovers and the seekers,
the strivers and the breathers
and the would-be poets (in residence)
the bigger the crowd, the better you're doing
despite all the posing, it's fame you're pursuing
I wanna make it, don't wanna sell out
I wanna make them get down on the floor
I wanna make it but I don't wanna sell out
I wanna fling open fame's golden doors
if I left you all alone in the world
could you be true to yourself?
without something to rebel against
and a way to be someone else?
I don't wanna make it, don't wanna sell out
don't wanna make them get down on the floor
I wanna make it but I don't wanna sell out
I wanna pry open these fame-crusted doors
I want to write a hit song
about how painful it is to be
different from everyone else
in a way everyone is just like me
the bigger the crowd, the better you're doing
despite all the posing, it's fame you're pursuing
are we one of us,
or are we just enough
have we played this bluff
just to show that we are tough?
have we done this much
to stay this out of touch?
I wanna make it, don't wanna sell out
I wanna make them get down on the floor
I wanna make it but I don't wanna sell out
I wanna fling open fame's golden doors
if anybody could sell everybody
we'd all be buying into it
and if everybody was like anybody
we'd all be hooked on the shit
the bigger the crowd, the better you're doing
despite all the posing, it's fame you're pursuing
and I tell the
lovers and the seekers,
the artists and the healers
and the would-be poets (in residence)
everybody is a unique individual
just like everybody else
and once you reach a certain threshold
say, more than a guest on a much smaller show
they all turn as brutally as they surely know
on your credibility and even your clothes
everybody is a unique individual
just like everybody else
