1
I guess you have to have a problem if you want to invent a contraption
First, you cause a train wreck then they put me in traction
Well, first came an action and then a reaction
But you can't switch around for your own satisfaction
Well, you burnt my house down and got mad at my reaction
Well, in every complicated situation of a human relation
Makin' sense of it all takes a whole lot of concentration
Well, you can blame a baby for her pregnant ma
And if there's one of these unavoidable laws
It's that you just can't take the effect and make it the cause
No
Well, you can't take the effect and make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank because you made up the law
Blame me for robbing Peter, don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect and make it the cause
I ain't the reason that you gave me no reason to return your call
You built a house of cards and got shocked when you saw them fall
Yeah, well, I ain't saying I'm innocent, in fact, the reverse
But if you're headed to the grave, you don't blame the hearse
You're like a little girl yelling at her brother 'cause you lost his ball
yeah
Well, you keep blaming me for what you did, but that ain't all
The way you clean up the wreck is enough to give one pause, yes
Well, you seem to forget just how this all started
I'm reacting to you because you left me broken-hearted
See, you just can't take the effect and make it the cause
Well you can't take the effect and make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank because you made up the law
Blame me for robbing Peter, but don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect and make it the cause
First, you cause a train wreck then they put me in traction
Well, first came an action and then a reaction
But you can't switch around for your own satisfaction
Well, you burnt my house down and got mad at my reaction
Well, in every complicated situation of a human relation
Makin' sense of it all takes a whole lot of concentration
Well, you can blame a baby for her pregnant ma
And if there's one of these unavoidable laws
It's that you just can't take the effect and make it the cause
No
Well, you can't take the effect and make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank because you made up the law
Blame me for robbing Peter, don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect and make it the cause
I ain't the reason that you gave me no reason to return your call
You built a house of cards and got shocked when you saw them fall
Yeah, well, I ain't saying I'm innocent, in fact, the reverse
But if you're headed to the grave, you don't blame the hearse
You're like a little girl yelling at her brother 'cause you lost his ball
yeah
Well, you keep blaming me for what you did, but that ain't all
The way you clean up the wreck is enough to give one pause, yes
Well, you seem to forget just how this all started
I'm reacting to you because you left me broken-hearted
See, you just can't take the effect and make it the cause
Well you can't take the effect and make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank because you made up the law
Blame me for robbing Peter, but don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect and make it the cause
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Just throwing it out there, but I don't think this song is so straight forward. I think Jack is also referring to the Iraqi war. The rest of the album contains many references and I think this song does as well.
"you built a house of cards and got shocked when you saw them fall"
is one of the more obvious ones to me. There's also the fact that the Bush administration said "we're going to invade Iraqi for 9/11" (not true) "we're invading Iraq for WMDs: (not true) "For FREEDOM! Cause look how messed up things are over here; hence taking the effect and making it the cause.
Maybe I'm wrong but I that's what I hear. Awesome song.