Three Steps from the Streets

I knew a man who go so stressed
That he became clinically depressed
Prescribed Valium and complete rest
And told to re-arrange his thought process

His whole demeanour took and inward step
And outward cynicism slowly crept
He said "be careful how you use your breath,
Each one you take will bring you closer to death"

Talk straight, talk true
I don't need x ray specs to see through you
Lies become clear and the truth distorts
My nerves are scrambled and my fuse is short

He saw his boss in hope of empathy
A word absent from his vocabulary
For thirty years of blind loyalty
You get the bottom rung of SSP

In terms of coping he was in free fall
From 'just about' to 'Not at all'
He hit the floor like a ton of lead
Self-doubt, self-loathing harboured in his head

Talk straight, talk true
I don't need x ray specs to see through you
Liers become clear and the truth distorts
My neves are scrambled and my fuse is short

He took a bread knife from the kitchen drawer
Stormed out the house intent on starting war
If life could kick him in this unfair way
Then someone somewhere would have to pay

He ran in Tesco's like a man possessed
Shouting the wrongs residing in his chest
He got as far as the lettuce and cress
Before security made their arrest

Talk straight, talk true
I don't need x ray specs to see through you
Lies become clear and the truth distorts
My nerves are scrambled and my fuse is short

He spent an evening in a police cell
Where he could contemplate his inward hell
The weight of failure had him in its spell
His only aim to make the final bell

He got a warning from the magistrate
In anger control he must participate
No helping hand from the welfare state
You're on your own from now on mate

Talk straight, talk true
I don't need x ray specs to see through you
Lies become clear and the truth distorts
My nerves are scrambled and my fuse is short

He lost his job and his missus left
She went before the house was repossessed
The friends he thought he had all turned their backs
Left to walk the streets with plastic bags



Credits
Writer(s): Graham Cooke
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

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