Ship of Fools

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Well, I had a dream the other night And this one was a nightmare and I almost died of fright I dreamt the whole world was a TV set Where what you see is exactly what you get It was a brand new light in the dark It was a brand new version of Noah's ark And even the carpenter has handed in his tools And climbed on board that ship of fools [Verse 2] Well, the kids learn to watch instead of to do Learnin' to imitate people like you And wantin' things to put on their shelf And wantin' mirrors to look at 'emselves And learning that weaknеss is quicker than strength And the fountain of youth is laughtеr at length And rather than be nice, it's fun to be cruel And be accepted on that ship of fools [Verse 3] And the mothers drool over Telly Savalas And make fun of 'emselves for a chance for the dollars (Nice rhyme, huh?) Tradin' what's in their hand For what used to be in their minds And there's no need to try anything new It's all been done (We do it all for you) And there's never any hunger for lack of food For greed is king on the ship of fools [Verse 4] Call up the precinct, the rolling pin flies again In the kitchen of commerce of let's pretend And the friendly policeman, he saves the day And moans how he's overworked and he's underpaid And he gives you the dope on smack and speed And then sells you pills to help you sleep And tune in next week when on April Fools' Someone hijacks the ship of fools (Did someone say hijack? Hi Mom! It's a football joke) [Verse 5] And they even have one for black folks too And token commercials 'cause they buy things too It's a father and son who laugh so hard That poverty's as fun as playin' in a junkyard And they all aspire to that great white dream Of color TV where collards are green Cryin' "What the hell's wrong with loose shoes?" As he shuffles on board the ship of fools [Verse 6] And Grandma and Grandpa get tickets early And do-si-do to Lawrence of Suburbia And a-one-and-a-two and a-hocus-pocus We turn you into vegetables so you won't know us It's a babysitter for every age There's no need to buy a cage And just because Grandma drools We load her on board that ship of fools [Verse 7] Well, cowboy hats and a new cologne We'll sell you anything with a brand new show And a show that happens in the Lone Star State Sells everything bigger and better, with a slight rebate And TV's ruined my local bar And I don't give a shit who shot JR Put the ass back in a tex-ass bar stool Hey, who's killing who on this ship of fools? ('Bout now is when everyone says "Well, I just watch the educational programs") [Verse 8] Well, here's the one you just have to watch It's an acquired taste like drinking scotch It's a real live educational play For adults only, direct from Broadway And there's no commercials until the end When this oil company man comes out to lend You some advice on those ecology fools Who are trying to sink his ship of fuels [Verse 9] Now here's Johnny to wrap up the show And keep insomniacs and cynics in the know And pick apart all of your heroes They say dyin' in your sleep is an easy way to go And as quick as you can think up new things They use 'em to make the cash register ring And no one sees the danger of nature's rules You can't overload that ship of fools (Here comes the epilog As you may recall from the first verse, this was only a dream) [Verse 10] Well, I woke up in the afternoon In time to see Walter on the evening news He said there was a poet who was found crucified And the police had ruled it an apparent suicide It seems he'd witnessed a political crime And called up to demand equal time But that's against the FCC's rules That ship of state is only a ship of fools (What'd you say?) That ship of state is only a ship of— (Louder, I can't hear you) That ship of state is only a ship of— (One more time) That ship of state is only a ship of—