The Paranoid Style - Rock and Roll Just Can't Recall

You said before you knew what it was like to be poor - or maybe just poorly dressed
I was always trying to make a good time out of life, with the empress
But now I've been asleep at the switch, oh honey, somehow I got marooned
I recognized that somebody had to do something soon
I was a rock and an island, somewhere near the Cote D'Ivoire
I could not deny the crabs, but baby, they ain't here no more
So many tricks that you trade on, so much makeup to cover the pall
I gather you were here and gone, but rock and roll just can't recall

You said that she was someone that you used to know, or maybe someone you used
I was down on my knees at the crossroads so I suppose I got no excuse
The scales have fallen from my eyes dear - now I think I understand
So you can fuck on water - that don't make you a miracle man

I was a double agent on a submarine down on the Isle of Wight
I had the intelligence but I never really was all that bright
So many tricks that you turn on
You gotta walk before you can crawl
You might've been my Vietnam
But rock and roll just can't recall

Now these days I shiver shake when I walk, and you can't bear to see me dance
My life's an outtake of an experiment and I blew the advance
But what do we do with Rod the mod? You don't look so good yourself
Maybe you've still got the moves and the hooks but you ain't got the health

I raided and pillaged down on Sunset and I woke up on the beach
I was a cocaine rhythm machine, now the good life was in reach
So many tricks that you take on, and you're left against the wall
Drop the needle and ramble on
'Cuz rock and roll just can't recall
Rock and roll just can't recall....