Marionette

(album: The Hoople - 1974)

No puppet, no liar, won't bend my lips to wire No
Don't pressurize me so
Don't gamble, with my life, or you won't live to do it twice
Oh take some good advice from me
And let the wires rock

All dressed in black so nobody sees you
Smile in the wings, tell me I please you
Call me a king and watch for the wordworm to choke me

And you're like a giraffe, the performance is poor
Watch the audience laugh as my head hits the floor
When I'm broken in half you still reach for the floor
STOP!

I've had enough of this
The pantomime's reversed
I need you feed
I greed you bleed

Marionette I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet Well you'd better forget it
Marionette I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet Go check your stocks and shares

And when the coffin comes make sure there's room for two

You lied I led
I died You're dead

Marionette I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet You'd better forget it
Marionette I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet go check your product

A traitor, deceiver, a groovy disbeliever I thought
A puppet was a thing cheap-taught No way
Creator, conceiver, romantic love receiver caught

"Who are you"
"The nerve"
I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get
Out, AHHHHH!

Oh he wanna play chords to the chick on the street
He wanna play words to a world that don't speak
He wanna play people who play hide 'n' seek when they don't talk

He wanna play a riff to the man with the wires
He wanna play lead but his hand's getting tired
He just wanna play but don't know how to say STOP

OK, the show's been fun
But my wood's begun to warp
They won -I'm done
New one begun

Marionette I did my best
Teacher's pet It just couldn't last
Marionette Get me out of this mess
Teacher's little pet It happened so fast
Marionette Now I need a rest
Teacher's pet Where's my sanity gone Mother?
Marionette I did my best
Teacher's little pet I'm just like all the others

They gambled, with my life
And now I've lost my will to fight
Oh God these wires are so tight....
I'm just a marionette.