Growin' Up - Live at Brendan Byrne Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ - 8/20/1984

Well now once upon a time

I stood stone-like at midnight
Suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right
And commanded the night brigade, hey

I was open to pain and crossed by the rain
I walked on a crooked crutch
I strode all alone into a fallout zone
Came out with my soul untouched

I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd
When they said "sit down", I stood up
Oh, growin' up

The flag of piracy flew from my mast
My sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate
She couldn't sail but she sure could sing

I pushed B-52, bombed 'em with the blues
My gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules, I strafed my old high school
Never once gave thought to landing

Hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd
When they said "come down", I threw up
On my shoes
Oh, growin' up

And there we were
It was a night
Just like tonight
There was real coolness in the air
It was a long, long time ago
I'd just met Clarence
He was working in the bowling alley
I was working at the gas station
We had a combined bank account of 88 dollars and 50 cents
We had no direction in our lives
We had no guidance
We had no inspiration
We were lost
We needed some hope
We needed some faith
We needed some close physical relationship
With members of the opposite sex
It was then that Calrence mentioned that he'd met two girls
Who had a sense of availability about them
Just the previous night
And that he knew where they lived just on the outskirts of town
So we figured we'd forget about our problems and enjoy ourselves
We were basically happy-go-lucky kind of guys
So we got in Clarence's Oldsmobile
We were feeling pretty good
And we drove south on Route 9
Down through Freehold
Down through Lakewood
Down through Toms River
Down deep into the pines
And then the unthinkable happened
We had a flat
We were on this dark back road
We couldn't decide whether to just roll the windows up
And stay in the car till morning
Or go out and see if we had a flat
This being the days before I was Clarence's employer
We decided that we'd choose to see who'd go check the trunk
I won and then I went and checked the trunk
So, there's nothing in there
And Clarence said that he knew where there was a gas station
Just on the other side of those woods
So we started walking into the trees
There were spooky sounds coming from all over the place
Clarence, like "do you believe in ghosts?"
We don't believe in ghosts
We believe in Frankenstein and the Wolfman
This is Wolfman territory, I'm telling you
What about the Jersey Devil?
I'm telling you man, I believe in the Jersey Devil
So we got out, got walking, things were going pretty good
Clarence, not so close, man
Get off my back, don't walk so close
It's bad enough I can't see where I'm going
You need a manicure, Clarence, I'm telling you
You must've been to Flemington Furs lately or something
But, hi Clarence
Oh, Clarence
Oh, Clarence
Hey, Clarence
Where are you, buddy?
Where are you pal?
Where are you, buddy?
Oh Jesus, don't scare me like that
Oh Jesus
And then something shot down out of the sky
The clouds pulled away from the moon
And over in the clearing we saw the answer to our quest
First I picked up the mic-stand

I stood there in the moonlight
And then, when we touched

I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere
You know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared
I was the cosmic kid

My feet they finally took root in the earth
Well, I got me a nice little place in the stars
I swear I find the key to the universe
In the engine of an old parked car

We hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd
When they said "sit down", I said "shut up"
Oh, growin' up
Growin' up