A signal swings and the lights turn off
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And a missing man begins to cough
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And no one knows the lost ones from the found
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And lady luck, well, she can't explain
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To a hardened coin or a bill, the game
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It seems everything changes hands when it hits the ground
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They said it's dog eat dog, cat eat mouse
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And mouse eat cheese and the cheese just smells
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The warning systems ring but help won't come.
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And all the calling cards and the walking sticks
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and the hidden punches and the coward's kicks
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Say we got a big mouthful now
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Chorus:
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Pick it up and put it in your pocket
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or somebody else will
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Pick it up and put it in your pocket
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or somebody else just will
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repeat as necessary
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Now the world's a road and for miles around
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On every inch of unclaimed ground, hide rewards for some but all the rest
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Spin a creepy wheel or they trip the stair
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While the new school boys just can't play fair
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In a place that leaves its money in its mess
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Chorus repeat
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Now an old man with a paper bag
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And a list so long on a dirty rag
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Checks each item that he will throw or keep
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But he'll never thank the coin that's bent
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Or a greenback bill that a stranger sent
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But he'll pick 'em just the same
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And then he'll thank the street
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He turns and says it's dog eat dog
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And cat eat mouse
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And mouse eat cheese
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And the cheese just smells
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Now I don't wanna seem to say
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That the time ahead won't be okay
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But the scale is loaded down
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With the weight of sixteen tons
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And the ones that have
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Tell the ones that don't
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To tell the ones that can't
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About the ones who won't
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And there's no place left here
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'Round to run
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Chorus repeat endlessly
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-----------------
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Pick it up (and put it in your pocket)
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Stan Ridgway |