Key: C
Introduction:
C D F C F G
C G F
on the playground you learned how to share with the kids,
C F G
but you still didn't feel you fit in.
C F D G C
you knew how to paint by numbers, but you knew it wasn't rock and roll.
C G F
you learned tight pants, spray paint, and eyeliner.
C F D
you said glam rock would save your soul.
C F
but you couldn't grasp that the rebellion you wanted
D G C
wasn't something you could ever be sold.
G D F
and I never understood how someone could be so willing to be
G D F
absorbed into what I never thought could pass as identity.
D C
and I always felt bad for the kids who had to share their faces
G D F
with sad teenagers across the world
C F
who'd found something to fill their loss,
F G C
without ever addressing the cause.
C F
then I saw your speech impediment imitated exactly
G C
by a girl in seattle and a guy in minneapolis,
C F G C
so i guess you must have learned that from tv
C F
you said you'd find yourself for real,
G C
but fell that far from the goal-
C F G7 C
you had to paint by numbers but knew it wasn't r-r-r-r-rock and roll .