Released: January 20, 2003

Songwriter: David Bowie

Producer: John Congleton

[Verse 1]
Pushing through the market square
So many mothers sighing
News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he wasn't lying
I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I saw boys, and toys, electric irons, and TVs
My brain hurt like a warehouse
I had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to stuff
Everything in there
And all the fat, skinny people
And all the tall, short people
And all the nobody people
We're all somebody's (people)

[Verse 2]
A girl my age went off her head
Hit some tiny children
If the Black hadn't pulled her off
I think she would have killed them
A soldier with a broken arm
Fixed his stare in the wheels of a Cadillac
A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest
And a queer threw up at the sight of that
I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine
I didn't think you know you're in my song
And it was cold and it rained, and I feel like an actor
And I thought of Ma and I wanna get back there
Your face, your race
The way that you talk
I kiss you, you're beautiful
I want you to walk

[Outro]
We've got five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
We've got five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
We've got five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years

The Paper Chase

The Paper Chase was an alternative rock band formed in 1997 and fronted by recording engineer/producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Explosions In The Sky, Swans). Their music was usually macabre in nature, and incorporated elements of noise rock, art rock, indie rock, and punk.

After their breakup in 2010, John Congleton formed The Nighty Nite, a spiritual successor to The Paper Chase.

From the album