The Curtain

[Hook/Sample] Puppet on a string Puppet on a string Puppet on a string Puppet on a string [Verse 1: Despot] Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain His story's the same as yours just with fancier wording Sweating to make sure that little light of yours is burning Shining happy, dead weight on the string, another burden Tugging on every finger, only living if disturbing From keeping your world turning, cooking up new diversions So you can feel like a person with a lot of things to do And your neighbors can tell you made it by the luster of your shoes Shit-eating smile but you're still singing the blues Yeah, that's always been the way the cookie crumbles for you Couple of crumbs in the pocket cause somebody else got it Just a bum with a promise of a mighty fat wallet One for the team, report back to your hole quick One for a dream, and walk back alone slick Pursuit of the summit makes that suit of skin and bones tick But the top of the hill makes that little engine homesick Don't blink, sit around and wait for the bell Or try to stand and get a better view of it going to hell Roll back to the bottom hoping everything's the way it was To find how far behind you gotta fall to see it all at once Itching to glimpse those ominous hands that orbit us And smack you out the way because you ain't enough to offer up Dirty cup full of pocket lint from the fat cats At the grown-up table with rules printed on your placemat And everything an inch out of your reach Dreaming of picking forbidden fruit from in between your teeth You've discovered a hidden truth and admitted defeat When nobody in the world wants to walk to your beat (to your beat) Keep calling yourself God in plainclothes And beat your puffed chest while the rats race for safe holes With a treasure map to where they keep the rainbows Your arms' too short to play cat's cradle with angels [Hook: Despot/Sample] Puppet on a string Just watch everyone else and do the same thing Puppet on a string Act like you mean it and you win a pair of wings Puppet on a string Chin up and walk blind, whichever way your face swings Puppet on a string Then have a seat and wait to be made king [Verse 2: Despot] Kick or shuffle through a bed of roses Trying to ruin something pretty while I'm going through the motions Awkward walking cats stalking that path the average joe went With a baseball bat in hand 'til everything he owns is broken Everyone's doing the dance hoping someday someone will notice Kneeling by their beds at night and asking what time heaven closes Sunrise, wake, punch card, more dead weight Water cooler conversation go complain about your day Sundown, eat, kiss wife, watch news, sleep Something ugly on the television had a bad dream No name with a great big crowd to entertain It's the city that never sleeps except on the train Passing out on your shoulder and begging for change And everyone pitches in just enough to get it away Eyes on the prize, cereal box stuck to your hand Digging for that happy ending and finding kinks in your plan Dummy, poker faces only make you look funny On the phone in dirty undies Yelling, "Show me the money!" On the road to riches running with holes in your shoes, bummy And you ain't stopping because you heard it's gonna get sunny Well it all means something and you'll be damned if you don't get it While the rest are filing out you stay behind to watch the credits Until the final second when the screen flashes, "You're pathetic" Sitting in a tangled mess of lifelines and prosthetics (Get it?) You're the butt of a bad joke And I'm busy stealing crutches from your only crippled hope With a megaphone ready to bark orders off-camera (Straighten up, fly right chump) Walk faster! [Hook]