I'm going to rent myself a house   In the shade of the freeway   Gonna pack my lunch in the morning   And go to work each day   And when the evening rolls around   I'll go on home and lay my body down   And when the morning light comes streaming in   I'll get up and do it again   Amen.      I want to know what became of the changes   We waited for love to bring   Were they only the fitful dreams   Of some greater awakening?   I've been aware of the time going by   They say in the end it's the wink of an eye   When the morning light comes streaming in   You'll get up and do it again   Amen.      Caught between the longing for love   And the struggle for the legal tender   Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring   And the junk man pounds his fender.   Where the veterans dream of the fight   Fast asleep at the traffic light   And the children solemnly wait   For the ice cream vendor   Out into the cool of the evening   Strolls the Pretender   He knows that all his hopes and dreams   Begin and end there      I'm gonna find myself a boy    Who can show me what laughter means   And we'll fill in the missing colors in each others    Paint by number dreams   And then we'll put our dark glasses on    And we'll make love until our strength is gone   And when the morning light comes streaming in   We'll get up and do it again   Do it again      I'm gonna be a happy idiot   And struggle for the legal tender   Where the ads take aim and lay their claim   To the heart and the soul of the spender   And believe in whatever may lie    In those things that money can buy   where true love could have been a contender   Are you there?   Say a prayer for the Pretender.   Who started out so young and strong   Only to surrender.      Ah the laughter of the lovers   As they run through the night   Leaving nothing for the others   But to choose off and fight   And tear at the world with all their might   While the ships bearing their dreams   Sail out of sight      say a prayer   say a prayer    for the pretender      say a prayer    for the pretender      oh the pretender   say a prayer    say a prayer   say a prayer for the pretender      ...   Gonna rent myself a house in the shade of the freeway   Gonna pack my lunch in the morning    And go to work each day   And when the evening rolls around   I'll go on home and lay my body down   And when the morning light comes streaming in   I'll get up and do it again   Amen