Note: * denotes a verse from Pete's demo version

I went back to the doctor
To get another shrink.
I have to tell him about my weekend
But he never betrays what he thinks.

Can you see the real me,
Doctor?
Can you see the real me,
Doctor?

I went back to my mother.
I said "I'm crazy, ma, help me!"
She said "I know how it feels, son
'Cause it runs in the family."

Can you see the real me,
Mother?
Can you see the real me,
Mother?

The cracks between the paving stones
Like rivers of flowing veins.
Strange people who know me
Peeping from behind every window pane.
The girl I used to love
Lives in this yellow house.
Yesterday she passed me by.
She doesn't want to know me now.

Can you see the real me
Can you, can you?
Can you see the real me
Can you, can you?

I went to the holy man
Full of lies and hate.
I seemed to scare him a little,
So he showed me to the golden gate.

Can you see the real me, preacher?
Preacher
Can you see the real me, preacher?

*[Rock and roll's gonna do me in
Do me an evil wrong
Funny how your best friends turn out
It was good for oh so long
Can't stop myself getting letters
And then the people try to turn me back
Publishers want my memoir
And the limousines are black
Can't you see the real me...
Rock and roll?]

Why should I care
If I have to cut my hair.
I've got to move with the fashions
Or be outcast.
I know I should fight
But my old man, he's really alright.
And I'm still living at home
(Even though it won't last.)

Zoot suit, white jacket with side vents
Five inches long.
I'm out on the street again.
And I'm leaping along.
Dressed right, for a beach fight
But I just can't explain
Why that uncertain feeling
Is still here in my brain.

The kids at school
Have parents that seem so cool,
Though I don't want to hurt 'em
Mine want me their way.
I clean my room and my shoes
But my mother found a box of blues
And there doesn't seem much hope
They'll let me stay.

Zoot suit, etc.

Why do I have to be different to them
Just to earn the respect of a dance hall friend?
We have the same old row, again and again.
Why do I have to move with a crowd
Of kids that hardly notice I'm around?
I have to work myself to death
Just to fit in.

I'm coming down
Got home on the very first train from town.
My dad just left for work,
He wasn't talking.
It's all a game
'Cause inside I'm just the same.
My fried egg makes me sick
First thing in the morning.

Punk:
You declared you would be three inches taller.
You only became what we made you.
Thought you were chasing a destiny calling.
You only earned what we gave you.
You fell and cried as the people were starving.
Now you know that we blame you.
You tried to walk on the trail we were carving.
Now you know that we framed you.

Godfather:
I'm the guy in the sky
Flying high, flashing eyes,
No surprise I told lies
I'm the punk in the gutter.

I'm the new president
But I grew and I bent.
Don't you know, don't it show,
I'm the punk with the stutter.

Punk:
We tried to speak between lines of oration.
You could only repeat what we told you.
Your axe belongs to a dying nation.
They don't know that we own you.
You're watching movies trying to find the feelers.
You only see what we show you.
We're the slaves of a phony leader.
Breathe the air we have blown you.

Godfather:
I have to be careful not to preach.
I can't pretend that I can teach.
And yet I live your future out
By pounding stages like a clown.
And on the dance floor broken glass.
The bloody faces slowly pass
The numbered seats in empty rows.
It all belongs to me, you know.