Down the city street I hear a heart beat   And what I give is returned      Someone stumbles in gets up and starts again   Says hey what have I earned   Out past the sun I hear a drum   And I hear a distant laugh   Out at empire’s end another begins again   And you lay in your bed      That’s why no one ever keeps up      That’s why the wise ones all give up      So take the fruit from the tree take it in your teeth   Take it for all it’s worth   And when my sober nose starts to smell a rose   It makes me light in the head   And when the wind clangs the chimes a sorrow beats in time   And it makes me smile   And you ask what I’ve learned I say it may seem absurd   But there’s nothing on file      That’s why no one ever keeps up      That’s why the wise ones all give up      And if the riots start somewhere out in the dark   Don’t wake me till daylight   Cause in these city walls the fever don’t run it crawls   And the mayor says stay right   And so I find a pub full of warm red blood   And I straighten my spine      And in the summer heat my heart finds a beat   And I tell you I’m fine      That’s why no one ever keeps up      That’s why the wise ones all give up