Beautiful Life

(album: Messenger - 1999)

Another beautiful morning under stars and bars
And F series pickups and rusted out cars
And they're eating breakfast at the strip bar
Just to have a peek...
And the beer soaked angels spread their wings
And dream of twenties and diamonds and things
And somehow that might ease the sting
Of the company they keep
Yeah...
And the vets still talk about the Tet offensive
And the freshmen boys all look so pensive
Because living large is so expensive
Hope daddy fueled the jet...
And we'll all fly out to the Hard Rock casino
And we'll put on our neatly pressed and fine chinos
And we'll laugh at the guy in the El Camino
Is that the only car he could get?
It's a beautiful life
It's just as advertised
It's all for one low price
Just read the fine print, and you'll be content
With your beautiful life
And record smoothies say, 'What a sound'
You're the greatest thing we've found
But you're gonna have to lose a few pounds
We're gonna put you on TV
And don't think our place is so swank
Don't worry about that guy, he's high on crank
That's exactly why his last record tanked
And let that be a lesson to me

[Chorus:]
And all our churches glow
Communion wafers trash TV shows
Say, 'Hey, at least you don't have this strife'
'Cause you'll be warm and safe
In your beautiful life
Yeah...

And it's hard to tell what's true compassion
When it's dressed up in hair and nails and fashion
And the tabloids all rush to cash in on what we should believe
And I hope I never see the day
When there's nothing left on the planet left to save
And oxygen is the designer crusade
As we all fight to breathe...

[Chorus]