Jackson Browne - The Pretender lyrics

I'm going to rent myself a house<br>In the shade of the freeway<br>I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning<br>And go to work each day<br>And when the evening rolls around<br>I'll go on home and lay my body down<br>And when the morning light comes streaming in<br>I'll get up and do it again<br>Amen<br>Say it again<br>Amen<br><br>I want to know what became of the changes<br>We waited for love to bring<br>Were they only the fitful dreams<br>Of some greater awakening<br>I've been aware of the time going by<br>They say in the end it's the wink of an eye<br>And when the morning light comes streaming in<br>You'll get up and do it again<br>Amen<br><br>Caught between the longing for love<br>And the struggle for the legal tender<br>Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring<br>And the junk man pounds his fender<br>Where the veterans dream of the fight<br>Fast asleep at the traffic light<br>And the children solemnly wait<br>For the ice cream vendor<br>Out into the cool of the evening<br>Strolls the pretender<br>He knows that all his hopes and dreams<br>Begin and end there<br><br>Ah the laughter of the lovers<br>As they run through the night<br>Leaving nothing for the others<br>But to choose off and fight<br>And tear at the world with all their might<br>While the ships bearing their dreams<br>Sail out of sight<br><br>I'm going to find myself a girl<br>Who can show me what laughter means<br>And we'll fill in the missing colors<br>In each other's paint-by-number dreams<br>And then we'll put out dark glasses on<br>And we'll make love until our strength is gone<br>And when the morning light comes streaming in<br>We'll get up and do it again<br>Get it up again<br><br>I'm going to be a happy idiot<br>And struggle for the legal tender<br>Where the ads take aim and lay their claim<br>To the heart and the soul of the spender<br>And believe in whatever may lie<br>In those things that money can buy<br>Thought true love could have been a contender<br>Are you there? <br>Say a prayer for the pretender<br>Who started out so young and strong<br>Only to surrender