I call my co-star's brother
I call my co-star's knave
I play both good and evil parts
I sing to Verdi's grave

And every single morning
By ten a.m. I'm dressed
My rehearsals last for hours and hours
With dilligence I have been blessed

Some people they call me "monster"
Some people they call me "saint"
My talent feeds my darker side
Yet no one will complain

I am an opera singer
I sing in foreign lands
I've sung for kings in Europe
And emperors in Japan

And after each performance
People stand around and wait
Just to tell me that they love my voice
Just to tell me that I'm great

I am an opera singer
I'll sing when you're all dead
I sing the mountains crumbling apart
I sing what can't be said

Fon, Jo and Tootsie are out on a wire
Menaced-toothed junkies all full of desire

Meanwhile Rick James takes (some-thing)
And there's nothing I can do
Meanwhile Rick James takes (some-thing)
And there's nothing I can do
And there's nothing I can say to you

I've got a lot of work to do
I guess I'll leave it up to you

The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well be

Outside, outside the walls
Out where you don't hear the echoes and calls
But the steel eye, tight jaw
Say it all, say it all
But the white paint, plastic saints
Say it all, say it all, say it all,
Say it all, say it all, say it all
Say somebody's got to say it all
I said somebody has got to say it all

I'm so nervous, I'm so tense
My heart can't forget about this self-defense
And the air is so hot and my breath comes fast
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last

I want a girl with the right allocations
Who is fast and thorough and sharp as a tack
She's playing with her jewelry
She's putting up her hair
She's touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long jacket

I want a girl who gets up early (gets up early)
I want a girl who stays up late (stays up late)
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity (uninterrupted)
Who uses a machete to cut through red tape

With fingernails that shine like justice
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass
She is fast, thorough and sharp as a tack
She is touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long long jacket

I want a girl with a smooth liquidation (smooth liquidation)
I want a girl with good dividends (good dividends)
At Citibank we will meet accidentally (meet accidentally)
We'll start to talk when she borrows my pen

With money you squeezed from the peasants
To your nephew you can give it as a present
This magnificent symphony in C
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C

Completely filling the palace concert hall
It's warm and golden like an oven that's wide open
It has a melody both happy and sad
Built on victorious young triads

You enter the room with great caution
Though no one in the hall is even watching
They are transfixed, they are forgetting just to breathe
They are so taken by your symphony in C

You're sitting there thinking your thoughts
They are not about what is, but what is not
You're sitting there breathing in your breath
You are seldom breathing life, but mostly death

To resist it is useless, it is useless to resist it
His cigarette is burning, but it never seems to ash
He is grooming his poodle, he is living comfort eagle
You can meet at his location but you better come with cash

Now, his hat is on backwards, he can show you his tattoo
He is in the music business, he is calling you dude

Now, today is tomorrow, and tomorrow today
And yesterday is weaving in and out
And the fluffy white lines that the airplane leaves behind
Are drifting right in front of the waning of the moon
He is handling the money, he is serving the food
He knows about your party, he is calling you dude

Yeah, do you believe in the one big sign?
The double-wide shine on the boot heels of your prime
Doesn't matter if you're skinny, doesn't matter if you're fat
You can dress up like a sultan in your onion head hat

We are building a religion, we are making a brand
We're the only ones to turn to when your castles turn to sand
Take a bite of this apple Mr. Corporate Events
Take a walk through the jungle of cardboard shanties and tents

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke
The wacky morning DJ says democracy's a joke
He says, "now do you believe in the one big song?"
He's now accepting callers who would like to sing along
He says, "do you believe in the one true edge?"
By fastening your safetybelts and stepping towards the ledge

He is handling the money, he is serving the food
He is now accepting callers he is calling me dude

Do you believe in the one big sign?
The double-wide shine on the boot heels of your prime
There's no need to ask directions if you ever lose your mind
We're behind you, we're behind you, and let us please remind you
We can send a car to find you if you ever lose your way

We don't wonder where we're going or remember where we've been
We've got to keep this traffic flowing and accept a little sin
So this long line of cars will never have an end
And this long line of cars keeps coming round the bend

From the streets of Sacramento to the freeways of LA
We've got to keep this fire burning and accept a little grey
So this long line of cars is trying to break free
And this long line of cars is all because of me

I want to love you madly, I want to love you now
I want to love you madly, away
I want to love you, love you, love you madly

I don't want to fake it, I just want to make it
The oranaments look pretty but they're pulling down the branches of the tree
I don't want to think about it, I don't want to talk about it
When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

I want to love you madly, I want to love you now
I want to love you madly, away
I want to love you, love you, love you madly

I don't want to hold back, I don't want to slip down
I don't want to think back to the one thing that I know I should have done
I don't want to doubt you, know everything about you
I don't want to sit across the table from you wishing I could run

Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd say just what you please
Without the sticky little kitten
Your ticket could never be free

Without the tight little denim
Your virtues would all go unknown
Without the room that you live in
Your cancers would eat to the bone

Your muscles would bulge underground
Your demons would all be around
Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd end up just like me

Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd end up just like me
Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd burn all these dying leaves

Without the pretty pink ribbon
You would lift this steaming herd
You would kill all the sick ones
You would bury them deep in the earth

Without the tight little denim
Your virtues would all go unknown
Without the room that you live in
Your cancers would eat to the bone

I don't like to hang around you
I don't want to live in your world of two
There's only room for you
In your world of two