America (Never Been)

You can drive across the whole thing
In four days if you really wanted
Leaving custom thank-you notes
In all the houses you ever haunted

In this whole solar system
We've only met one type of life
It's the living kind of life
And it's not one I recognize

America, America
America, America
America, America
America, America

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven

I said, "Excuse me," to the ocean
Because I thought I had got in its way
At first, I didn't think it heard me
But then, I saw it wave

You can spend every living moment thinking
"How can I get out alive?"
But is it real then? Can you really call it?
"Hey, man, just shut up and drive"

I thought we'd be on the road all night
When that ice storm hit in Texas
And when we pulled into the gas station
It was like a frozen oasis

Oh, sweet mama
Does that neon sign shine for me?
Is there a street where my name glows
All through the night?

And I've never read (America)
No, I've never been (America)
I just never went (America)
I have never seen (America)

And I've never wrote (America)
I have never been (America)
No, I never spoke (America)
All I wanna see (America)

All my fantasies are faking orgasms
They're only in it for the money I made up for them
I trade in ideas, opinions, and artistry
And my face is on every dollar

This is Heaven, but Heaven is here (this is Heaven, but Heaven is here)
This is Heaven, but Heaven is hard (this is Heaven, but Heaven is hard)
Because your lover is listening to music you don't know (oh)
And you're tangled up in the headphone wires (oh)

You know our problems, they don't end
Just because we get a boy-, girlfriends
Is this your salvation plan?
Is this your salvation plan?

Oh, there's only one type of love
It's the loving kind of love
But when you're mad at me, it's the end of times
And I'm mad at you all the other times

Have I ever really (been in love)?
I guess I've never really (been in love)
Have I ever really (been in love)?
Not in the way I'm thinking (been in love)

Never really (been in love)
I've just never really (been in love)
Oh, have I ever really (been in love)?
No, no, I've never really (been in love)

Real life's a mess
But at least you're not paying rent
You've been making it, maybe even breaking even
You oughta be content

It doesn't make sense
You're still sitting on the fence
When the yard is yours
And it was money well spent

And I've never read (America)
No, I've never been (America)
I just never went (America)
I have never seen (America)

America (America)
America (America)
Democracy (America)
Biographies (America)

Civil rights (America), basically
Bright lights (America) of living in the city
Second prize (America) in a beauty pageant
200 dollars, this is life (America), this is your life

America (America)
America (America)
This is Heaven (America)
I think that this is Heaven (America)

This is the place (America)
This is the place (America)
This is the place (America)
This is the place (America)