Everything That Keeps You Down

I used to live my life in celluloid
Bent the light around the flashbulb glare
But when you end up on the cover of every checkout magazine
You learn to either hide it better or not at all
I used to live my life nailed to the page
To mirror, razorblade and fisheye lens
I've seen the world turn circles and shake the inkspots off
But everything's typed-up metaphors or unnecessary
So I've been spending half my life
Just trying to wake up
But I'm bound always to painkillers and sleep-inducers
Everything that keeps you down
I used to see my name on overheads
Heard my history on intercoms
And it's not that no one cared
No, everybody cared a bit too much
Vicarious or scapegoat?
It's all the same
So I've been spending half my life
Just trying to avoid the limelight
And the other half, replacing all the bulbs
And aiming cameras, Vaseline
Everything that keeps you down
I used to live my life in golden chairs
But it's all quartz and pyrite nowadays anyway
The supermarket impulse line
That half-hour space between news and prime time
It's these things keep you down eternally
So I've been spending half my life
Just trying to make it all right
With scripted courier solutions and strikethrough lies
Everything that keeps you down