The Great Pretender thinks he’s you and I And all the creatures in the sea and sky In this way, he sets out for an adventure The joyous, frightening and terrible Know that these are only dreams A fantasy and fiction A child’s play of heroes in action Through the laughter and the screams A place where he can disappear Whatever, whenever and whoever Know that these are only dreams A fantasy and fiction A child’s play of heroes in action And when he wakes up they disappear Playing hide and seek forever and ever

When the race had begun It was twenty million In the long run, just one can be someone And one by one by one Easily outrun Destiny chose you as her favorite son Out of the exit Room so brightly lit Just like that, you exist Torment or a gift Determinative It’s yours to live, ‘cause tag you’re it Now adulthood has come What are you hiding from? Act now while you still got a pulse Like a waltz by Strauss Embrace your future spouse Make an ‘It’ of somebody else

Smash and grab and screaming it out It’s Rock Paper Scissors Your paper heart, I’m cutting it out It’s Rock Paper Scissors Got no conscience, no time for shame Tunnel vision, zero-sum game Fortune, fame, remember my name It’s Rock Paper Scissors Rock Paper Scissors What shape is the hand making? What is your weapon of choice? As we rip a page out from our story Trim it down for future glory Take no prisoners Rock paper and scissors

When you find yourself at the end of a rope It’s all about here and now Calculations Fight the losing battle with a smile Conflict and cooperation Lines are drawn into the sand Jerking back and forth ‘round the nation Black hearts and red hands Don’t let them turn you into a subhuman In this tug of war The future is ours So don’t fight forces, use them Use them

Who has stolen my watch and chain? Pass through the arches to prison again Where you’ll remain Like a troubled bridge over water Collapsing under the weight of her own failure Flames along the Thames As cracks appear on courthouse steps The discarded blindfold of our Lady Justice Do you still hold all the cards? Dealing jokers from the top ‘Til we all have closed up shop All fold

Walk past a camera Talk on a phone I’m in your bed when you’re alone Always in focus Fixed upon Unconscious automaton Sad or laughing Click and dragging Private rendezvous I’m downloading every piece of you I spy with my little eye From the sea up to the sky On the grid and tracking every date on your timeline I spy with my little eye Every girl and every guy On the grid and tracking your birth ‘till you die Compartmentalized Always supervised Categorized Living under knowing eyes

The surface hides what’s goin’ on inside Sometimes unpleasant It ain’t no crime There’s no present like time And no time like the present And what do you have to declare? ’Cause the devil may care Suddenly, you don’t have a prayer Time to lay it all bare They say all’s fair in love and warfare Each moment, a joy or despair So I’m asking you: Truth or Dare Oh mirror mirror on the wall Tell me who you love most of all It’s you and me in our reflectivity Drowning in our vanity Oh mirror mirror on the wall Have mercy on this Neanderthal It’s you and me, only temporarily In the dustbin of history

A crawl to the summit The crown that you covet The rivalry and the thrill But unless you finally say That this will be the day You never will be King of the Hill Topple the Monarchy War of the solitary Ending the Dynasty Of your former adversary The glory and the majesty Is it only temporary?

Remember Remember just living in the moment Remember The world stopped With just a bit of string But somehow, as adults get in a tangle They always want something more In time, it all becomes unraveled We wonder We wonder what’s waiting in the future We pull the strings To see the shape of things to come It’s all make-believe From your mind you will find diamonds We go from cradle to grave Until the wind blows out The candle presents a bestowment Remember to live in the moment