It all began with the bright light

The bright light and the noise

The chaos of the senses

And the scream of desire

Touchin' and bein' touched

A million lose ends to tie up

Tickin' of the clock

And the cradle rock

The colors stand still

And then they move around

Comin' in and out of focus

Upside down

Empty winter trees

How space feels

Love of the soft

Flowers and the sky

One fine day

The chaos subsides

Bleeds into awareness

And a lifetime of surprise

The beauty of your mother's eyes

The pain when you fall

You drink it in and marvel at it all

But you never really figure it out

You get used to it

The babble of the family

And the dumb TV

Roar of the traffic

And the thunder of jets

Chemicals in the water

Drugs in the food

The heat of the kitchen

And the beat of the system

The attitude of authority

And the laws and the rules

Hit me square in the face

First morning at school

The heroes and the zeros

The first love of my life

When to kiss and to kick

And to keep your head down

When they're choosin' the sides

I was never any good at it

I was terrified most of the time

I never got over it

I got used to it

Alone in the city

At seventeen

With the hollow, the lonely

The drowning and the drowned

I was made to feel worthless, the wretched and the mean

Beat me up like a weapon

I can't run away from or find a way 'round

Holdin' on, holdin' on

The greed and the missiles

Exploding somewhere every day

Hideous dark secrets under the sea

And in holes in the ground

The cold war's gone

But those bastards'll find us another one

They're here to protect you, don't you know?

So get used to it, get used to it

Oh, the clash of religions

And the loaded prayers

Information the face of starvation

And the state of the nation

The sense that it's useless

And the fear to try

Not believin' the leaders, the media that feeds us

Livin' with the big lie

You get used to it

Hey, you get used to it

It's okay, it's okay, you get used to it