You're obsessed and distressed ‘cause you can't make any sense
Of the ludicrous nonsense and incipient senescence
That will deem your common sense useless
This ain’t no recess

I want to believe in you, but my plan keeps falling through
I know I have to face the harshness, grin and bear the truth
And I have to walk this mile in my own shoes
(But I'm no fool!)

I'm materialist
A full-blown realist
I guess I'm full of doubt
So I'm prone to have it out
With you
I'm materialist
There ain't no fear in this
It's there for all to see, so don't talk of hidden mystery
With me

Mind over matter, it really don't matter
If the street's idle chatter turns your heart strings to tatters
Flatter hopes don't flatter and soul batter won't congeal to mend a life
That’s shattered into shards
Was it in the cards?

The process of belief is an elixir when you're weak
I must confess, at times I indulge it on the sneak
But generally my outlook's not so bleak
(And I'm not meek!)

I'm materialist
Call me a humanist
I guess I'm full of doubt,
So I'll gladly have it out
With you
I'm materialist
I ain't no deist
It's there for all to see, so don't talk of hidden mystery
With me

Like Rome under Nero, our future's one big zero
Recycling the past to meet the immediate needs
And through it all we amble forth to persevere and climb
Our mountains of regret to sow our seeds

I'm materialist
I'm materialist
I'm materialist
I'm materialist!


Lyrics submitted by nfgpunk023

Materialist song meanings
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    General Comment

    Materialist is a philosophical approch to life where you believe that nothing exists except matter

    roffioon April 24, 2003   Link

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