I'm going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway
I'm going to 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

And 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 of the lovers

As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
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 going to 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 out 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 going to 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
Thought 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