The Three Great Stimulants

Lyrics

I picked the morning paper off the floor  
It was full of other people's little wars  
Wouldn't they like their peace  
Don't we get bored  
And we call for the three great stimulants  
Of the exhausted ones  
Artifice, brutality and innocence  
Artifice and innocence  
  
No tanks have ever rumbled through these streets  
and the drone of planes at night has never frightened me  
I keep the hours and the company that I please  
And we call for the three great stimulants  
Of the exhausted ones  
Artifice, brutality and innocence  
Artifice and innocence  
  
Oh and deep in the night  
Our appetites find us  
Release us and bind us  
Deep in the night  
While madmen sit up building bombs  
And making laws and bars  
They'd like to slam free choice behind us  
  
I saw a little lawyer on the tube  
He said, "It's so easy now, anyone can sue."  
"Let me show you how your petty aggravations can profit you!"  
Call for the three great stimulants  
Of the exhausted ones  
Artifice, brutality and innocence  
Artifice and innocence  
  
Oh and deep in the night  
Appetites find us  
Release us and blind us  
Deep in the night  
While madmen sit up building bombs  
And making laws and bars  
They're gonna slam free choice behind us  
  
Last night I dreamed I saw the planet flicker  
Great forests fell like buffalo  
Everything got sicker  
And to the bitter end  
Big business bickered  
And they call for the three great stimulants  
Of the exhausted ones  
Artifice, brutality and innocence  
Artifice and innocence  
  
Oh these times, these times  
Oh these changing times  
Change in the heart of all mankind  
Oh these troubled times