My best friend from high school
Has got a deep blue business suit
A sea green pool
He covers his wife in jewels
So take a look at me now
I'm on the couch in my 10th grade jeans
I turn the shower on
It only leaks
You've got your sweatpants on and they're covered in mustard stains
And you say "We're fading away"
You say, "Some people are hugged tight by history
And we stand outside the embrace"
But I say "Wait a minute, babe
Planet of the Apes is on TV
Sit down next to me"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old

Now, there's a reason why we live like this
And I know you're sick of it, but just listen
In the novel I've been writing for 15 years
There's a man
He's got a pen in his hand
He writes like Faulkner but he can't sell it
Cuz everyone's Bible is a tabloid
And they're all zealots
All the stars start shooting and burning out
But he remains
Watching from the windowpane
He says "Why look for glory in the public esteem
When they're giving the laurels to the mockingbirds who repeat their hollow dreams
We've got empty pockets
And now the weight resides in our hearts
And I know it tears you apart"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old

I'm so tired
And you're so pissed
And I know you're sick of it, but just listen
That ending I've been looking for for 15 years
It came
Here come the glory and the fame
My protagonist and his lovely wife
They're on the couch and she's nagging him
But he says, "Quiet
I'm gonna tell you a story
Gonna ease your pain
When the bombs come to murder their American dreams
The first to turn to cinders gonna be their magazines
And when they're digging through the rubble
My novel will appear
Cuz I bound it in my blood and my tears"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old