The Mountain Goats - Real Life Lyrics

[JON]
Stop the clock
Take time out
Time to regroup
Before you lose the bout

Freeze the frame
Back it up
Time to refocus
Before they wrap it up

Years are getting shorter
Lines on your face are getting longer
Feel like you're treading water
But the riptide's getting stronger

Don't panic, don't jump ship
Can't fight it, like taxes
At least it happens only once in your life

They're singing, "Happy Birthday"
You just want to lay down and cry
Not just anothеr birthday
It's 30/90

Why can't you stay twenty-nine?
Hell, you still feel likе you're twenty-two
Turn thirty, 1990
Bang! You're dead
What can you do?
What can you do?
What can you do?




[ROGER]
Clear the runway
Make another pass
Try one more approach
Before you're out of gas

[JON]
Friends are getting fatter
Hairs on your head are getting thinner
Feel like a clean-up batter
On a team that ain't a winner

[ROGER]
Don't freak out, don't strike out
Can't fight it, like City Hall

[JON]
At least you're not alone
Your friends are there, too
They're singing, "Happy Birthday"

[JON & MICHAEL]
You just wish you could run away

[JON]
Who cares about a birthday?


[JON, with MICHAEL]
But 30/90, hey

[JON]
Can you be optimistic?

[JON & MICHAEL]
You're no longer the ingenue
Turn thirty, 1990

[JON]
Boom! You're passé

[JON & MICHAEL]
What can you do?

[JON]
What can you do?
What can you do?

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
Which way to Never Never Land?
Emerald City's gone to hell
Since the wizard

[ALL]
Blew off his command


[JON]
On the streets you hear the voices
Lost children, crocodiles
You're not into
Making choices, wicked witches
Poppy fields, or men behind the curtain
Tiger lilies, ruby slippers

[ALL]
Clock is ticking, that's for certain!

[JON, (ROGER & KARESSA)]
And they're singing, "Happy Birthday" (Happy birthday)

[JON]
I just wish it all were a dream
It feels much more like Doomsday
F*ck

[JON, ROGER & KARESSA]
30/90

[JON]
Seems like I'm in for a twister
I don't see a rainbow, do you?

[JON, ROGER & KARESSA]
Turn thirty in the '90s

[JON]
Into my hands now
The ball is passed
I want the spoils, but not too fast

The world is calling
It's now or Neverland
Why can't I stay a child forever, and

[JON, (ENSEMBLE)]
30/90
30/90 (30/90)
30/90
30/90 (30/90)
30/90

[ALL]
30, 30/90
What can I do?

[ENSEMBLE]
30/90, 30, 30/90

[ALL]
What can I do?