You can run your life by numbers

And you can learn your role by heart

Play it strictly by the rules stay inside the lines

And find that it's all over before it got to start

You can follow the instructions

And you can learn your part by rote

Review the options till looking back you find

That in this life's elections you quite forgot to vote

Here we stand like children forever wondering

Caught between the need to stand out

And trying to fit in

Just trying to fit in

Just trying

You can see it all around you

In the bitterness of age

That looks back on chapters of battles never won

And now the chance has slipped away

To write another page

Oh yes there's life out there beyond the nine to five

But it's so easy to watch it on TV

And just pretend you're alive

Just pretend you're alive

Just pretend

We are the sculptors of the future

And we shape this road we're on

A road of action paved with sweat and tears

And the dreams and aspirations of every mile we run

But you can run your life by numbers

And you can learn your role by heart

Play it strictly by the rules stay inside the lines

And find that it's all over before it got to start