[Hook/Sample]
Puppet on a string
Puppet on a string
Puppet on a string
Puppet on a string
[Verse 1: Despot]
Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain
His story's the same as yours just with fancier wording
Sweating to make sure that little light of yours is burning
Shining happy, dead weight on the string, another burden
Tugging on every finger, only living if disturbing
From keeping your world turning, cooking up new diversions
So you can feel like a person with a lot of things to do
And your neighbors can tell you made it by the luster of your shoes
sh**-eating smile but you're still singing the blues
Yeah, that's always been the way the cookie crumbles for you
Couple of crumbs in the pocket cause somebody else got it
Just a bum with a promise of a mighty fat wallet
One for the team, report back to your hole quick
One for a dream, and walk back alone slick
Pursuit of the summit makes that suit of skin and bones tick
But the top of the hill makes that little engine homesick
Don't blink, sit around and wait for the bell
Or try to stand and get a better view of it going to hell
Roll back to the bottom hoping everything's the way it was
To find how far behind you gotta fall to see it all at once
Itching to glimpse those ominous hands that orbit us
And smack you out the way because you ain't enough to offer up
Dirty cup full of pocket lint from the fat cats
At the grown-up table with rules printed on your placemat
And everything an inch out of your reach
Dreaming of picking forbidden fruit from in between your teeth
You've discovered a hidden truth and admitted defeat
When nobody in the world wants to walk to your beat (to your beat)
Keep calling yourself God in plainclothes
And beat your puffed chest while the rats race for safe holes
With a treasure map to where they keep the rainbows
Your arms' too short to play cat's cradle with angels
[Hook: Despot/Sample]
Puppet on a string
Just watch everyone else and do the same thing
Puppet on a string
Act like you mean it and you win a pair of wings
Puppet on a string
Chin up and walk blind, whichever way your face swings
Puppet on a string
Then have a seat and wait to be made king
[Verse 2: Despot]
Kick or shuffle through a bed of roses
Trying to ruin something pretty while I'm going through the motions
Awkward walking cats stalking that path the average joe went
With a baseball bat in hand 'til everything he owns is broken
Everyone's doing the dance hoping someday someone will notice
Kneeling by their beds at night and asking what time heaven closes
Sunrise, wake, punch card, more dead weight
Water cooler conversation go complain about your day
Sundown, eat, kiss wife, watch news, sleep
Something ugly on the television had a bad dream
No name with a great big crowd to entertain
It's the city that never sleeps except on the train
Pa**ing out on your shoulder and begging for change
And everyone pitches in just enough to get it away
Eyes on the prize, cereal box stuck to your hand
Digging for that happy ending and finding kinks in your plan
Dummy, poker faces only make you look funny
On the phone in dirt undies
Yelling, "Show me the money!"
On the road to riches running with holes in your shoes, bummy
And you ain't stopping because you heard it's gonna get sunny
Well it all means something and you'll be damned if you don't get it
While the rest are filing out you stay behind to watch the credits
Until the final second when the screen flashes, "You're pathetic"
Sitting in a tangled mess of lifelines and prosthetics
(Get it?)
You're the bu*t of a bad joke
And I'm busy stealing crutches from your only crippled hope
With a megaphone ready to bark orders off-camera
(Straighten up, fly right chump)
Walk faster!
[Hook]