Friendly Fire

[Verse 1]

An inspirational tirade against me

How to explain my life?

Girls to the left of me

Boys to the right of me

Neither husband nor wife

Though the days are filled with pain

There is no one who'll explain

Why I'm coming under friendly fire

Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll

But there's no one, really no one, to say

[Verse 2]

Why I endure under force majeure

Slander without shame or tact

I who studied make-up, mime and Buddha

Who taught two generations to react

About me the critics lied

I ignored them and survived

In spite of coming under friendly fire

Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll

But there's nothing, really nothing, to deny

[Bridge]

When I look back, my eyes are filled with tears

Danger to mascara, applause to my peers

[Verse 3]

When fame sustained me and arenas acclaimed me

I floated through life on a cloud

Of love and insanity and pagan profanity

Before a worshipping crowd

Now my status is ill-defined

As an icon I'm inclined

To be coming under friendly fire

Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll

But whatever dull or clever points they've scored

I have never, oh no never, been ignored