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...