He's thinking of the hungry rats   Inside his stomach and he knows that   Nothing ever changes anyway      He can see himself there   He knows that look, it's called despair   His father taught him to wear it well      So he put his ear to the door of his youth   And he heard a groundswell of remorse now      There's no splendid isolation   For the abandoned generation      It gets hard to maintain   When the brightest of shells   Weather and fade anyway   Do what you can before it's too late      Arms stretched, she's on her back   Her hollow words ring from her past   She's been running from that every day      She can see herself there   She knows that look, it's called despair   Her mother taught her to wear it well      She puts her ear to the door of her youth   And she heard a groundswell of remorse now      There's no splendid isolation   For the abandoned generation      It gets hard to maintain   When the brightest of shells   Weather and fade anyway   Do what you can before it's too late      I spent a lifetime searching with tired eyes   I had the best intentions but they went away