The Three Great Stimulants

[Verse 1]

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?

[Chorus]

And we call for the three great stimulants

Of the exhausted ones

Artifice, brutality and innocence

Artifice and innocence

[Verse 2]

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

[Chorus]

And we call for the three great stimulants

Of the exhausted ones

Artifice, brutality and innocence

Artifice and innocence

[Bridge]

Oh and deep in the night our appetites find us

Release us and blind 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

[Verse 3]

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"

[Chorus]

Call for the three great stimulants

Of the exhausted ones

Artifice, brutality and innocence

Artifice and innocence

[Bridge]

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

[Verse 4]

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

[Chorus]

And they call for the three great stimulants

Of the exhausted ones

Artifice, brutality and innocence

Artifice and innocence

[Outro]

Oh these times, these times

Oh these changing times

Change in the heart of all mankind

Oh these troubled times