I was the future,   In nineteen-ninety-five   I watched the flashbulbs burst,   Whenever I'd arrive   I'd tape my knuckles up   Cinched and tight; for the ring   Just beneath the gloves   Clenching white for the swing   I was a sellout   Before a sellout crowd,   I threw the fight in my head   Before the fat lady bowed   You want a tip-off   Some good advice for the brawl?   Just wear mouth-guard   To keep your teeth when you fall   And when you quit,   Make sure that you can   Wash you hands of it      Armed to the teeth   Score one for treachery   I am a mercenary   There's more lies here   Than we can all bury   I am a mercenary      I've seen the headlines   Swarming thick with flies   I've seen the Billboard Charts   I've heard them spitting lies   Here's to your lame award   Your phony Nobel Prize   Here's to the suckers lining up   To see us compromise   Let's light a campfire   We'll have a sing along   I'll burn some bridges.   You'll bring the crappy songs   And when you quit   Make sure that you can wash your hands of it      There's a part of me I've compromised   Buried somewhere under ghosts of lies   Make it quick, make it sick   Turn the crank and just play the greatest hits... sigh.   There's a part of me that I despise   Pull the curtain back and see what dies   Emerald spires of the near profound   Let's burn this lousy city down