Carry On, You're Doing Fine

INTRO

Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats,

Tonight's performance has borrowed receipts.

The actor is ready, the verdict is near,

And somehow I'm guilty for words you hear.

VERSE ONE

He picked up a sentence, he polished a phrase,

Then stitched them together in curious ways.

He held up the pieces and shouted, "Behold!

The truth about him has finally been told!"

I checked my pockets, I checked my shoes,

I couldn't remember committing these views.

He read me my words like a judge on a throne,

Then explained what I meant as if I'd never known.

PRE-CHORUS

I tried to look serious, I really did try,

But the more he explained it, the harder I'd cry.

Not tears of sorrow, not tears of regret,

Just the funniest trial I've witnessed yet.

CHORUS

Oh, carry on, you're doing fine,

You've made a whole confession out of borrowed lines.

You've built your case, you've played your part,

And signed your name beneath your art.

Oh, reach for the sky, put on your show,

There's one little thing that you ought to know:

You can borrow the words, rearrange the view,

But what they reveal might belong to you.

VERSE TWO

He called me a villain, then quoted my song,

He said I was right, then explained I was wrong.

He took every sentence and gave it a charge,

Then made his conclusions impressively large.

The crowd watched politely, the room stayed still,

He climbed up the ladder he'd built from his will.

I sat in the corner, enjoying the scene,

The most confident stranger I'd ever seen.

PRE-CHORUS

I thought of correcting the words he'd misplaced,

Then thought of the effort, the time, and the waste.

Some paintings explain themselves on the wall,

Some people need help understanding it all.

CHORUS

Oh, carry on, you're doing fine,

You've made a whole confession out of borrowed lines.

You've built your case, you've played your part,

And signed your name beneath your art.

Oh, reach for the sky, put on your show,

There's one little thing that you ought to know:

You can borrow the words, rearrange the view,

But what they reveal might belong to you.

BRIDGE

Perhaps he is growing, perhaps that's the plan,

To become something bigger by studying a man.

But growth isn't measured by how high you stand,

Or how many чужих words you hold in your hand.

BREAKDOWN

"Did he say this?"

He did.

"Did he mean that?"

Who knows?

"Then what's the verdict?"

The jury went home.

"Who's the winner?"

The mirror alone.

FINAL CHORUS

Oh, carry on, you're doing fine,

You've made a whole confession out of borrowed lines.

You came for a verdict, you came for a crown,

But somewhere along the way, you wrote yourself down.

Oh, reach for the sky, put on your show,

The world's full of things that we'd rather not know.

You can borrow the words, rearrange the view,

But the strangest discovery might be you.

OUTRO

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming.

The case is dismissed.

The mirror is staying.

And somebody's still talking.