just like a paper tiger   torn apart by idle hands   through the helter skelter morning   fix yourself while you still can      no more ashes to ashes   no more cinders from the sky   let all the laws of creation   tell a dead man how to die      oh deserts down below us   and storms up above   like a stray dog gone defective   like a paper tiger in the sun      looking through a broken diamond   to make the past what it should be   through the ruins and the weather   capsized boats in the sea      oh deserts down below us   and storms up above   like a stray dog gone defective   like a paper tiger in the sun      we're just holding on to nothing   to see how long nothing lasts      oh deserts down below us   and storms up above   like a stray dog gone defective   like a paper tiger in the sun