Underground

Five hundred years ago the world was covered with greenery,
And no observer to turn it into scenery.
Things were more of a mystery than they are today,
But then some say we had more knowledge in those days.

And people in tall ships would say
"Man, we just sailed back from a land where the people walk on their hands".
No one could understand because there was no Discovery Channel,
The boats were powered by paddles, and words were purged in battle.

And now travelling back through the pages of history
All these things just seem like more of a mystery.
We know there's no land where people walk on their hands
But the knowledge that the ancient people still don't understand.

John Manderville said he saw people with two heads,
But I never heard of no documentary on them.
But why would you lie about something so incredibly unbelievable?
It just boggles the mind, I can't conceive of that at all.

So maybe the people with two heads and the people with tails
And the people who stand on their head and all that aren't dead.
But when the tall ships came with their smoke and their flame
All these people just went...

Underground, underground, underground, underground,
Underground, underground, underground, underground...

I had a friend who died a number of years ago
But before he went he did some interesting things.
So incredibly indelible the memory of things he showed me
That inspired me and made the world glow for a moment/made the wet streets glow/made the suburban streets sing

An inter-suburban adventurer who wandered the streets,
through the silence and the darkness that made life sweet.
And he told me one day everything that happened to him
when he was tripping on acid just watching the world swim.

He met an Indian chief just like in that Doors movie with Val Kilmer,
except that this was no film, this was real -
they communicated in a secret language
that can only be spoken by the holy and the brain damaged.

And as they spoke well it started to rain,
at first just a few drops then like a plane in Spain.
"Don't worry", said the chief, "I'll take you somewhere dry".
And he led him through the rivers of the city of the night,
he led him through the rivers of the city of the night.

After so many twists and turns, they lost count,
the chief came to a door that seemed to jump straight out of nothing,
my friend was out of breath, he was puffing.

The chief opened the door and said "Come on in,
it's perfectly dry in here, let's get out of the wind".
And they both stepped in and the steps went down...

Underground, underground, underground, underground,
underground, underground, underground, underground...

Now my friend claimed they travelled through a storm water drain
that somehow managed to stay dry and out of the rain,
and after saying sometime they came to a strange subterranean cavern
that was filled with light and people who were very strange.

People walking around on their hands,
and people with two heads arguing over which way to dance,
and people with tails and giants and she-males
and animals that looked like they'd just stepped out of fairy tales.

Apparently they were all just drinking beer,
having a good time, just like you or I.
And I still don't know if I believe him but he swears that this was true,
still we all know the funny things that acid can do.

Anyway this friend died like five years ago,
so I guess maybe now well I'll never never know.
And one day I too might make a bad mistake,
or else live to one hundred where the future awaits.

But one year or one hundred well it's really the same
just a snow flake that melts into rain.

Anyway what I'm saying is that one day I'll close my eyes,
and never ever open them again in this life.
Then I'll go where people go when they go beyond time...

Underground, underground, underground, underground,
underground, underground, underground, underground...