Wasteland
By Dan Bern
Transcribed by Justin
capo two
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G
D
C
I saw the best of my generation playing pinball
G
D
Maked up and caked up
C
D
Looking like some kind of china doll
G
D
With all of Adolf Hitler's moves down cold
Em
C
As they stood up in front
D
Of a rock and roll band
G
D
Em
And always moving upward and ever upward
C
D
To this gentle golden promised land
G
With the smartest of them all
D
Moonlighting as a word processor
Em
And the strongest of them all
C
Checking IDs outside a saloon
D
And the prettiest of all
Em
Taking off her clothes
C
In front of men
G
Whose eyes look like they were in some little hick town
C
Near Omaha
G
Watching the police chief
C
D
Run his car off the side of a bridge
G
I saw a men with dreams
D
Like the ones I'd had
Em
Beg quarters outside the Seven-Eleven
G
Till it got so they didn't affect me anymore
C
Than the mailboxes I'd passed
G
'Cept that sometimes
C
D
I'd put something in the mailbox
Bm
I had the wind at my back
C
Now I feel it cold in my face
G
And for an awful long time now
D
You were the only one who ever
Em
Called me late at night
C
And I really never noticed
G
Till after you stopped calling
C
And the emptiness
Bm
And silence
D
Got so heavy
G
Broken up in the wasteland
Bm
Broken up in the promised land
C
Broken up in Disneyland
D
Broken up in the plastic land
Em
Broken up in the wasteland
C
Broken up in the wasteland
G (riff)
Broken up in the wasteland
G D
I saw dead Marilyn Monroe
Em
C
Strung up on every street corner in Hollywood
Like some two-bit whore
G
C
Offering a discount rate
D
And I wondered how Joe Dimaggio felt
G
D
I saw dead James Dean's ghost
Em
C
Wandering the sidewalk looking troubled
D
And I wondered how his mama felt
G
D
I saw signs that said "Headshots done for cheap"
Em
C
Signs that said "Extras wanted, top dollars paid"
G
Signs for haircuts
C
Signs for manicures
G
Signs for tanning salons
C
Signs for wardrobe specialists
G
Signs for cosmetic surgery
C
Signs for assertiveness training
D
And I stopped to read them all
G
And every single block
D
Looked like every single block
Em
Looked like every single block
C
Looked like every single block
G
But you kept driving
C
'Cause everyone else kept driving
G
And cause gridlock is evil
C
D
And not knowing your way is evil
Bm
And those that had money looked good but weren't too happy
C
And those who didn't have money didn't look so good and weren't too
happy either
G
And in a city of three million
D
Em
Two hundred and sixty nine thousand
C
Nine hundred eighty-four
D
Everyone was lonely
G
Broken up in the wasteland
Bm
Broken up in the promised land
C
Broken up in Disneyland
D
Broken up in the plastic land
Em
Broken up in the wasteland
C
Broken up in the wasteland
G (riff)
Broken up in the wasteland
G D
em
And I watched as everyone I knew
C
Spent their lives
G
Trying to be watched on stage
C
Watched on film
G
Or listened to on a record
C
And they thought "Well, maybe that way
D
I could get a little love out of this life"
G
D
And I watched as the best of my generation
Em
C
Abandoned their dreams
D
And settled for making a little money
G
I watched TV
D
Read the papers
Em
Listend to the radio
C
And made all the fancy scenes
G
And said all the right words
C
And wore all the right clothes
G
And knew the names of the hip people
D
But I still felt out of touch
Em
So I stopped watching TV
D
And reading the papers
C
And listening to the radio
G
And making the fancy scenes
C
And saying the right words
G
And wearing the right clothes
C
And knowing the names of the hip people
D
And I felt more out of touch than ever
D
But I didn't care anymore
Bm
And I felt you slipping away
C
And I felt myself slipping from you
G
And I wanted more than anything else
D
Em
For it to rain for one whole day like it used to
C
But all there ever was was sun
G
Relentless sun
C
Hot beating sun
G
And everyone wore their sunglasses
C
And walked around like flies
Bm
Under a magnifyng glass
D
With their eyes removed
G
Broken up in the wasteland
Bm
Broken up in the promised land
C
Broken up in Disneyland
D
Broken up in the plastic land
Em
Broken up in the wasteland
C
Broken up in the wasteland
Em
Broken up in the wasteland
C
Broken up in the wasteland
G (riff)
Broken up in the wasteland