American Backslide

How does it feel
In the morning shower
Will the great decision
Come before lunch hour
From the ivory tower
Like a proclamation
Who’ll be the next to go

How does it feel
When you got no power
And your fate is shaky
Like your destination
And your future’s empty
Full of just frustration
And you’re searching high and low

One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump
One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump

How does it feel
When you got no job
And you got three kids
Nothin’ much to eat
And you steal and you rob
Just to make ends meet
And you can’t even stand on your own two feet

How does it feel
When your favorite player
Has been bought and sold
Before he gets too old
Leave him out in the cold
With a pension and a plaque
And a drug addiction for his sacroiliac

One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump
One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump

How does it feel
When you’re driving’ around
In your automobile
And they tell you it’s real
On your radio
That they’re makin’ a deal
But you know in your heart it’s a dirty deal

How does it feel
When everything you say
Seems to wash away
And is twisted like clay
And you stammer and you stutter
Every word you mutter
Like an echo in the dark
Is so ineffective

One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump
One o’clock jump, one o’clock jump

30 seconds ‘fore the big strike
No one’s riding down the turnpik
Everything is turning ghostlike
60 minutes after midnite