Intro: C C/B Am F G 


[Verso 1]
 
  C 
I had a friend who had to vent 
     C/B 
On a time that left him quite verklempt 
Am 
I asked exactly what he meant 
    F             G 
And helplessly he said: 
 C 
"I'm just a boy with a broken dream 
    C/B 
And a chemical dependency 
       Am 
That's eating up what's left of me 
      F             G 
While they say plan ahead" 
   Am                C/B 
He asked his father "what's the point? 
    F                G 
The future ain't too bright." 
     Am                  C/B 
Then dad replied for the first time: 
   F                  G 
"I think you might be right" 
           C               G 
Cause your generation's on medication 
C          G 
Blinded by inebriation 
C               G 
Wallowing in procrastination 
C                G 
Frankly bored of education 
C               G 
Live in fear of foreign nations 
C         G 
Nuclear annihilation 
C                G 
Searching for an explanation 
C                G           F                G 
While I have the realization that it's all my fault 
            C 
And such is life 

Interlude: (C) G C 


[Verso 2]
 
  C 
I held a girl for a bit of a while 
      C/B 
In an age where a smile was out of style 
    Am 
She made denial seem worth while 
  F                G 
I never quite knew how 
    C 
She had a voice and a wish for fame 
    C/B 
And claimed the world would know here name 
  Am 
I told her I once felt the same 
    F               G 
But look where I am now 
   Am                 C/B 
So darling, keep your head on straight 
    F            G 
The vision won't pan out 
      Am            C/B 
She'd say "I always get my way and 
F            G 
You can just get out!" 
       C                        G 
So she worked real hard and she danced away 
    C                      G 
But she put a play for her mirror all day 
        C                  G 
And the years went by, she turned 28 
C                   G 
Over the hill and a little too late 
     C             G 
With deteriorating mental health 
    C                          G 
The president's dead cause she proved herself 
    C                G 
And though you never heard her sing 
      C                G 
She's on magazines and TV screens 
          C                    G 
While she sits and smiles in a prison cell 
          C                   G 
Where she hung herself with a studded belt 
    F               G 
She went out like a star 
            C 
And such is life 

Interlude: (C) G C 


[Verso 3]
 
  C 
I knew a fella so tried and true 
       C/B 
He's a lot like me and a bit like you 
    Am 
Who struggled through what bound him to 
  F             G 
A social web of lies 
   C 
He saw the things he chose to see 
  C/B 
Inside a world of fantasy 
    Am 
And never fit too comfortably 
   F         G 
In anybody's eyes 
     Am              C/B 
But, when the system pulled his card 
    F                     G 
And said, "You turned out right" 
   Am               C/B 
We fed you fear for 18 years 
F               G 
Preparing for a fight 
    C                G           C                G 
So, son get off that unicorn and come try on this uniform 
      C                         G 
Cause these are the colors that never run: 
C                       G 
Red, white, blue, and a silver gun 
          C                      G               C                  G 
Though he never laid a finger on anyone, he just sang his songs and had his fun 
       C              G 
On the battlefield he met his end 
        C                G 
When he took a bullet to save his friend 
    C                G 
His mom got word the other day 
     C                  G 
In a letter that read, "Thanks anyway" 
    F                  G                  C 
But that's how freedom rings. And such is life 

Interlude: (C) G C 

   C 
My thought on everybody else 
      C/B 
Would lead me back to view myself 
    Am 
And take the sorrow that I felt 
   F               G 
To build a case-in-point 
   C 
My home sweet home of lemon drops 
      C/B 
Where dinner's served on counter tops 
    Am 
The healthy family unit stops 
     F       G 
When parents disappoint 
    Am                   C/B            F         G 
The stranger's hand that feeds you is a jackal in disguise 
     Am              C/B          F          G 
That sends us poison arrows from apocalyptic skies 
          C                     G 
There's a fallout child with an empty face 
       C                  G 
Who'll finish last in the human race 
     C                       G 
In a vegetative state at his parents' place 
   C                        G 
An ashamed disgraced who's afraid to age 
    C               G 
His rage enslaves a caged white dove 
      C                   G 
Who's raised on drugs and selfish love 
    C            G               C               G 
The product of a time defined by me, myself, and I combined 
       C                 G 
With a slow decline on a string of pills 
          C                          G 
While the world keeps turning, we're standing still 
    F              G 
And growing up all wrong 
    F                 G 
The sandbox lines are drawn 
    F                  G 
The backward beat goes on 
            C 
And such is life 

Outro 
(C) G C