The Who Album

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ...

I've got my clipboard, text books
Lead me to the station
Yeah, I'm off to the civil war
I've got my kit bag, my heavy boots
I'm runnin' in the rain
Gonna run till my feet are raw

Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
And I'm a soldier at thirteen
Slip kid, slip kid, realization
There's no easy way to be free
No easy way to be free

It's a hard, hard world

I left my doctor's prescription bungalow behind me
I left the door ajar
I left my vacuum flask
Full of hot tea and sugar
Left the keys right in my car

Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
Only half way up the tree
Slip kid, slip kid, I'm a relation
I'm a soldier at sixty-three
No easy way to be free

Slip kid, slip kid

Keep away old man, you won't fool me
You and your history won't rule me
You might have been a fighter, but admit you failed
I'm not affected by your blackmail
You won't blackmail me

I've got my clipboard, text books
Lead me to the station
Yeah, I'm off to the civil war
I've got my kit bag, my heavy boots
I'm runnin' in the rain
Gonna run till my feet are raw

Slip kid, slip kid, slip out of trouble
Slip over here and set me free
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
You're slidin down the hill like me
No easy way to be free
No easy way to be free
No easy way to be free

I see myself on T.V., I'm a faker, a paper clown
It's clear to all my friends that I habitually lie; I just bring them down
I claim proneness to exaggeration
But the truth lies in my frustration
The children of the night, they all pass me by
Have to drench myself in brandy
In sleep I'll hide
But however much I booze
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

I lose so many nights of sleep worrying about my responsibilities
Are the problems that screw me up really down to him or me
My ego will just confuse me
Some day it's going to up and use me
Dish me out another tailor-made compliment
Tell me about some destiny I can't prevent
And however much I squirm
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

Won't somebody tell me how to get out of this place?!

Then the night comes down like a cell door closing
Suddenly I realize that I'm right now, I'm on the scene
While sitting here all alone with a bottle and my head a-floating
Far away from the phone and the conscience going on at me
And on at me, and I don't care what you say
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

Now the walls are all clawed and scratched
Like by some soul insane
In the morning I humbly detach myself
I take no blame
I just can't face my failure
I'm nothing but a well fucked sailor
You at home can easily decide what's right
By glancing very briefly at the songs I write
But it don't help me that you know
This ain't no way out
Won't somebody tell me?
I don't care what you say, boy
There ain't no way out

There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

Give me the key, lock it away

There ain't
There ain't
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out
There ain't no way out

Mama's got a squeeze box she wears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home he never gets no rest
Cause she's playin' all night
And the music's all right

Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

Well the kids don't eat
And the dog can't sleep
There's no escape from the music
In the whole damn street
Cause she's playin' all night
And the music's all right

Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
She's playin' all night
And the music's all right

Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

She goes squeeze me
Come on and squeeze me
Come on and tease me like you do
I'm so in love with you

Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
Cause she's playin' all night
And the music's all right

Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night

I feel like I want to break out of the house
My heart is a-pumping, I've got sand in my mouth
I feel like I'm heading up to a cardiac arrest
I want to scream in the night, I want a manifest

I've got that wide awake, give-and-take, five o'clock-in-the-morning feeling
I've got the hots for the sluts in the well thumbed pages of a magazine
I want to drive, want to fly like I do in the dreams I've never really been in
I want to hump, want to jump, want to heat up, cool down in a dream machine

I'm dreaming ... from the waist on down
I'm dreaming ... but I feel tired and bound
I'm dreaming ... of a day when a cold shower helps my health
I'm dreaming ... dreaming - of the day I can control myself
Day I can control myself

Sound like a priest and then I'm shooting dice
I'm burning tires with some guy whose hair is turning white
I know the girls that I pass, they just ain't impressed
I'm too old to give up, but too young to rest

I've got that numb-to-a-thumb over-dubbed
Feeling social when the world is sleeping
The plot starts to thicken then I sicken and I feel I'm cemented down
I'm so juiced that the whorey lady's sad sad story has me quietly weeping
But here comes the morning
Here comes the yawning demented clown

I'm dreaming ... but I know it's all hot air
I'm dreaming ... I'll get back to that rocking chair
I'm dreaming ... of the day I can share the wealth
I'm dreaming ... dreaming - of the day I can control myself
Day I can control myself
Hey, hey!
The day I can control myself

Imagine a man
Not a child of any revolt
But a plain man tied up in life

Imagine the sand
Running out as he struts
Parading and fading, ignoring his wife

Imagine a road
So long looking backwards
You can't see where it really began

Imagine a load
So large and so smooth
That against it a man is an ant

Then you will see the end
You will see the end

Imagine events
That occur everyday
Like a shooting or raping or a simple act of deceit

Imagine a fence
Around you as high as prevention
Casting shadows, you can't see your feet

Imagine a girl
You long for and have
And the body of chalky perfection and truth

Imagine a past
Where you wish you had lived
Full of heroes and villians and fools

And you will see the end
You will see the end
And you will see the end
You will see the end
Oh yeah

Imagine a man
Not a child of any revolt
But a man of today feeling new

Imagine a soul
So old it it is broken
And you will know your invention is you

And you will see the end
You will see the end
You will see the end
You will see the end
Oh yeah

Friday night, I'm on my way home
They ought to make work a crime
I'm home for the weekend
I'm gonna make the most of my time
There's a rock and roll singer on the television
Giving up his music, gonna take up religion
Deserted rock and roll
To try to save his soul

Saturday night, I got a gig with the band
Playing the electric guitar
Someday I'm gonna make it
Gonna be a super duper star
Get a big flashy car
And a house for my Mum
The big break better happen soon
'Cause I'm pushing twenty-one

Just like Cinderella when she couldn't go to the ball
A voice said "I'm your fairy manager, you shall play the Carnegie Hall"
I gotta give up my day job to become a heartthrob
I may go far if I smash my guitar

Away for the weekend
I've gotta play some one-night stands
Six for the tax man
And one for the band
Back in the studio
To make our latest number one
Take two hundred and seventy six
You know, this used to be fun

Monday morning, I just got home
Six and the birds are singing
I need a drink and my clothes are wet
Oooh and my ears are still ringing
There's a rock and roll singer bopping on the TV
He used to be a preacher but now he sings in a major key
Amended his decision
To the new religion

Where do you walk on sunny times
When the rivers gleam and the buildings shine
How do you feel goin' up hallowed halls
And the summer clothes brighten gloomy halls

And they're all in love
And they're all in love

Where do you fit in zzzzip magazine
Where the past is the hero and the present a queen
Just tell me right now where do you fit in
With mud in your eye and a passion for gin

And they're all in love
And they're all in love

Hey, goodbye all you punks
Stay young and stay high
Hand me my checkbook
And I'll crawl out to die

But like a woman in childbirth
Grown ugly in a flash
I'm seen magic and fame
Now I'm recycling trash

And they're all in love
And they're all in love
And they're all in love
And they're all in love

Some people seem so obsessed with the morning
Get up early just to watch the sun rise
Some people like it more when there's fire in the sky
Worship the sun when it's high
Some people go for those sultry evenings
Sipping cocktails in the blue, red and grey
But I like every minute of the day

I like every second, so long as you are on my mind
Every moment has its special charm
It's all right when you're around, rain or shine
I know a crowd who only live after midnight
Their faces always seem so pale
And then there's friends of mine who must have sunlight
They say a suntan never fails
I know a man who works the night shift
He's lucky to get a job and some pay
And I like every minute of the day

I dig every second
I can laugh in the snow and rain
I get a buzz from being cold and wet
The pleasure seems to balance out the pain

And so you see that I'm completely crazy
I even shun the south of France
The people on the hill, they say I'm lazy
But when they sleep, I sing and dance
Some people have to have the sultry evenings
Cocktails in the blue, red and grey
But I like every minute of the day

I like every minute of the day

I'm feelin' so good right now
There's a handsome boy tells me how I changed his past
He buys me a brandy
But could it be he's really just after my ass?

He likes the clothes I wear
He says he likes a man who's dressed in season
But no-one else ever stares, he's being so kind
What's the reason?

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

Suddenly it's the silver screen
And a face so beautiful that I have to cry out
Everybody hears me
But I look like a fool now
With a cry and I shy out
She knows all of my friends
But it's nice to find a woman who's keen on living
Now I think I've reached the end
I wonder in the dead of night - how do I rate?

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

It's all like a dream you know
When you're still up early in the morning
And you all sit together to watch the 1 come through
But things don't look so good
When you could use a bit of warning
Then you know that no-one will ever speak the truth about you

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

When I first signed a contract
It was more than a handshake then
I know it still is
But there's a plain fact
We talk so much shit behind each other's backs
I get the willies
People know nothing about their own soft gut
So how come they can sum us up
Without suffering all the hype we've known
How come they bum us up

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

Ain't it funny how they're all Cleopatra
When you gaze into their past
When you find out about their birth signs
You realize there was no need to have asked

All the history of a soul in torment
Ingrained in a hand or a face
Ain't it funny how they all fire the pistol
At the wrong end of the race

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round

There's a man going through your dust bin
Only this time he's looking for food
There's a tear in his eye, you don't know him
Oh but you know what he's going through

Ain't it funny that you can't seem to help him
Feelin' sick as he staggers away
Is it weird that you hate a stranger
Can a detail correct your dismay

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round