[Verse 1]

I was standin' around

Like one of those girls I had seen in a movie

The whole world was a movie back then

I had my sunglasses on

I wanted to be seen without seeing

Shy Lolita

I wasn't really in it

I didn't really get it

I was every single girl, I was nobody else

I was so sure of myself

I was fifteen and a half

He was a hollow laugh

[Pre-Chorus]

And I lost my cool

Somewhere along the way

The nightmare down the hallway

I had to learn how to look away

I lost my cool

No electricity

Hot rain on the concrete

And sweet melting little girl dreams

[Chorus]

They said

Oh I want a big life

Not a "how sad coulda' been" life

Where are you taking me, where are you taking me

Said everything I do I feel farther removed from my old life

Where is it taking me, where is it taking me?

[Verse 2]

I was standin' on my best friend's balcony

Feelin' a certain kinda wise at seventeen

Thinking the flare on the lens was the real thing

She was with her boyfriend in the back room

I was chain-smoking cigarettes and looking at the moon

Thought I was really in it

I didn't really get it

[Pre-Chorus]

I lost my cool

Somewhere around the bend

It started making less sense

Holding onto all that innocence

I lost my cool

I found it in a chemical dream

The whole world is a movie screen

And Hudson Avenue's melting

[Chorus]

I say

Oh I want a big life

Not a "how sad coulda' been" life

Where are you taking me? where are you taking me?

Said everything I do I feel farther removed from my old life

Where is it taking me? where is it taking me?

[Bridge]

A portrait of my mother

She says

Stay young, stay young, stay young, stay young

I see my baby brother

I just come undone

It's some life I been living

Don't know 'til you're in it

Then all of a sudden

You can't get

Get back

Back out

Run, run away

[Outro]

(Where are you taking me?)

Way

(Where are you taking me?)

Said everything I do I feel closer to some kind of new light

Where is it taking me? Where is it taking me?

I said oh yeah

(Oh I want a big life

Not a "how sad coulda' been" life)

I want a big life, I want a big life

Where are you taking me? (take me away)

Where are you taking me? (take me away)

I say

Everything I do I feel closer to some kind of new life

(I want a new life, I want a new life)

Where is it taking me? (take me away)

Where is it taking me?