Post office clerks put up signs saying 'Position Closed'
And secretaries turn off typewriters and put on their coats
Janitors padlock the gates for security guards to patrol
And bachelors phone up their friends for a drink
While the married ones turn on a chat show
And they'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
'Gentlemen, time please, you know we can't serve any more'
Now the traffic lights change to stop when there's nothing to go
And by five o' clock everything's dead
And every third car is a cab,
And ignorant people sleep in their beds
Like the doped white mice in the college lab
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all:
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
Telephone exchanges click while there's nobody there
The Martians could land in the car park and no one would care
The close-circuit cameras in department stores
Shoot the same movie everyday
And the stars of these films neither die nor get killed
Just survive constant action replay
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all:
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
And bill hoardings advertise products that nobody needs
While 'Angry from Manchester' writes to complain about all the repeats on TV;
And computer terminals report
Some gains on the values of copper and tin,
While American businessmen snap up Van Goghs
For the price of a hospital wing
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all:
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all:
They'll burn down the synagogues at six o'clock
And we'll all go along like before:
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow.