the means

i sat down with my girl on the heating grate
she sat and shook her head and sang the new blues
the neon lights are blinking a block away
we’re in the richest place we’ve ever been to

with everything we learned and all that it spent,
it cost a lot to buy a seat on the pavement
and our new brains can’t even buy us the rent
it’s hard to see where the investment went!

you held a dollar in your hand and said,
“let’s not let this one split us at the seams.
can we pick something else that’s real instead,
so when we lose it, we’ll at least know what it means?”

it could be easy to find but harder to make it stay,
it could be hard to come by but easy to walk away.

you’re tired of all the R2-D2 displays
that beep and tell you that you’re negative less than nothing today
and every investment spends more than it saves,
just like every red cent is worth less than it weighs

so get your five to seven pieces of identification and i’ll get mine
you go home and stay on the phone, and i’ll go out and stay in line
if someone should pick up just tell them you’re fine,
we don’t mind waiting cuz we got lots of time.

this ain’t your dollar and it isn’t mine
it doesn’t know us, it don’t understand our needs
so when it leaves me i’m not gonna cry
cuz we’re not at the end, and this is just the means.

that could be easy to find but harder to make it stay
that could be hard to come by but easy to walk away.

© 2002 c holford

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