"What's Going On Here?!"

I live in an apartment on the ninety-ninth floor of my block
And I sit at home looking out of the window
Imagining the world has stopped
I thought: “High, noon, oh, I’d sell my soul for water”
The telephone is ringing,
I say, “Hi, it’s me, who is there on the line?”
A voice says, “I tried to telephone,
They said you were not home,
That’s a lie
I saw you peep through your window” [see line 1]
And then, “Get off your cloud!
Let me take you down ‘Cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about”
My head is getting broken and my mind is getting bust…
And I cried in the phone, “Operator, you’ve got to get me out of this mess! Operator, don’t – don’t you put me on hold?!”
I was sick & tired, fed up with this
And decided to take a drive downtown.
Went downtown, had a long way to go
How I got there, well, I don’t know…
My car – Ooh, it’s a killing machine
It’s got everything
Like a driving power, big fat tires and everything
I said, “Alright, hold tight, I’m a highway staaar!”
Black night is not right
I don’t care to sit tight
I can’t feel, I can’t see…
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
It makes me feel like a mad dog
And I think to myself in this cradle of lust,
“Nothing’s gonna change my world…”

Roll me over slowly; I’ve been drinking all night… long
Standing alone, my senses reeled
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit "I".
Help me make a move; I can’t stand the light…
Images of broken light which dance before like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe…
Saturday night and I’ve just got paid
Gonna fool about, ain’t gonna save…
I must admit they had a rocking band
Man, they were blowing like a hurricane!
“Tutti Frutti” was, oh, so rooty
Rocking to the east and west…
And I cried out, “… Just let me hear some of that rock’n’roll music
It’s got a back beat, you can’t lose it –
Let me hear your balalaika's ringing out!
I’m a rock’n’roll preacher,
Not a Sunday school teacher!”
They said, We don’t need no educations,
So won’t you please come home?!”
And then…

She walked into the room,
Her hand upon her hip
She really knocked the stuffing out of me
I thought, “I want you, I need you,
I gotta be near you”
The magic in your eye bewitches all you gaze upon,
Sly, sly… like a demon’s eye
I’m bewitched and I know it so well…
As I’ve been drinking all night –
You’re Gemini and I don’t know which one I like the most
A flight of fancy on a wind swept field,
Suspended animation, a state of bliss…
But her eyes, they tantalize
And I said, “I’ve been on my own so long,
Won’t you lend me your hand?
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you
Hey, girl, would you like some wine?
I’m so sad and lonely
Baby, take a chance with me!”
She said a hard man is good to find
I thought, “Nobody gonna take my girl,
I gonna keep her to the end
Don’t know about your brain
But you look alright…”
People are saying the woman is damned,
She makes you burn with the way of her hand…
And then she chewed me up and spat me out…

I’m going to lose my grip…
I said, “Wake me, save me,
I ain’t been so bad I just can’t recall… can you
Remember, remember my name?
The voice of ages in your mind
Is aching with the dead of the night
I’m alone here with emptiness eagles and snow…”
She looked like a raver
But I could never please her
I said, “I surrender to your heart, baby,
Do anything that you want me to do
I’m near to heartbreak,
I want you so bad, don’t turn away!”
She said, “I need someone I can turn to”
I said, “This is the call of the wild!
You’ve got to understand:
We must remain… then maybe you would say,
“Come lay with me and love me”,
And I would surely stay
I’m a rainbow shaker
On a stallion twister
Limitless undying love shines around me like a million suns
Tomorrow I’ll miss you
Remember I’ll always be true
So hold me, love me, come and keep your comrade warm!”
Oh, her lips are really thrilling…
I look at the world and I notice it’s turning –
As I’ve been drinking all night
I said, “Are you by yourself?”
She said, “Once I had a boyfriend,
He was so tall and strong…”
“If I were you I’d realize that I
Love you more than any other guy
C’mon, baby, speak the words I wanna hear,
Drive me crazy – do it, do it!”
She said, “Saturday nights, from now on, baby, you’re my star!”
I’m dreaming! I feel like screaming!
I won my woman!
I said, “I tried to understand you,
I tried to love you right
Every night the tears come upon my eyes,
Every day I do nothing but cry
See the tears standing in my eyes?
So every day we’ll be happy I know
I know I can’t spend another night
On my own…“
I look strait at her
“I will say the only words
I know you’ll understand:
I wanna touch you, wanna feel you,
I wanna love you all night long!”
I tried to take her…
She said, “I ain’t for takin’ won’t you ever learn?!”

I knew what I was getting
But it took my surprise…
You’re stone cold, baby
I thought I knew you so well…
But I can’t escape you – somebody!
Help me make a move!!

It makes me feel like a mad dog…
I should have known she’d be no good
She torn my heart in two
And I cried out, “Listen to me!
I’ve got a warning for you
I know you broke the unwritten law
I need no friends; I’m on the edge of a broken dream
You’re obsolete, my baby
Tell me I’m a man but you treat me like a fool
It’s such an obvious lie with that easy smile of yours
You told the truth with your eyes
But you lied inside!”
It started with a smile
It turned into a laugh
It ended with a scream
I said, “Enough is enough!”

… Why she had to go I don’t know
She wouldn’t say… I just can’t recall, I said, “Don’t shut the door!
Pick your window, you’re leaving!”
I was so lonely as I was before
All that I could give she took
And then she threw me out
Love was here and gone…
I know, yes, I know:
I’ve been mistreated
Baby, baby, baby…
Since my baby left me
I’ve been losing… losing…
I’ve been losing my mind…
Like the leaves on the trees I’m falling…
Lying on the floor I can’t remember my name
Whether I’m drunk or dead I really ain’t too sure…
I can’t stay here
There’s something wrong here
What’s goin’ on here?!…

When they closed up the bar
You know they left me for dead
I can’t remember a thing I said…
Must have called the police to take me away
I thought I heard them saying, “I gotta know: are you dead or alive?”
I cried out, “You can’t control me,
Tell me what to do!
Hind behind your politics, hind behind your rules!
I’ve got something to say:
I’m a freedom fighter, get out of my way!”
Last thing I remember I was taken through the door…
And I was screaming something like, “I’m a wheel, I’m a wheel,
I’m the dark and the light,
I’m a man on the silver mountain!”
Black night is a long way from home…

[At home in the morning]

Ooh, it’s been a hard night’s day
And I’d been drinking like a dog…
Love was such an easy game to play…
And I will say the only words
I know you will all understand:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away…
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay…
Ooh, I believe in yesterday…