Performing under assumed names

At the club where you first played

Your awkward charm now utterly gone

So utterly gone

Replaced with deep disengagement

As a defense against pain

It's misconstrued as a force

Developed to keep guest lists short

And we recall how you'd hate this:

Comparing tips with the waitress

Oh, I know, I know who

Keeps coming up with all these stupid rules

Local celebrities on a bigger stage

Local celebrities when they're tossed that way

We feel you owe us some token

For the contract you've broken

By not remaining wedded to themes

You explored in your teens

But time will leave art debased

And it will annihilate all traces

Of the unbridled rush that we'd get

From those manic early sets

From waving ironic lighters

To catching up on our nightmares

But I know, I know who

Keeps coming up with all these stupid rules

Local celebrities on a bigger stage

Local celebrities when they're tossed that way

The lighting alters its texture

And everyone's past is right there

And at the same time utterly gone

So utterly gone...