"Side Show Blues" lyrics - TODD SNIDER

TODD SNIDER
"Side Show Blues"

My landlady treats me like I don't pay my rent
Gave my car to my mechanic, I ain't seen it since
My phone is always ringing, when I want to be alone
They try and sell me everything from Heaven to cologne

[Refrain 1:]
Everybody's got an offer I can't refuse
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues

It's all a big commercial, It's a video of a man
It's a plot to put an end to my attention span
They make up all these issues, I never understood
If I thought I could change things I'd run out to Hollywood

[Refrain 2:]
But it's hard to kick the door down wearing seven dollar shoes
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues

[Chorus:]
I've got them sideshow blues, I want to tame the lions
These center ring rich kids ain't even trying
From college to the big top they take the best positions
While I'm out in this tent with these freaks and musicians
Out in this tent with these freaks and musicians
I'm moaning them sideshow blues

I try to tell my girlfriend she's the only one that I've got
This chick I hardly know keeps on telling her she's not
She's got a loaded pistol, she waves it all the time
Says "Sometimes you gotta kill a boy to keep his ass in line"

[Refrain 3:]
Well, that's the way she sees it, she says she saw it on the news
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues

See people play satanic records, and you don't know when they'll freak
From quiet kid to maniac to movie of the week
We're killing over cocaine, dying over sex
We're bowing down and praying to who'll ever cuts the check

[Refrain 4:]
When I go to church on Sunday, I can't help sleep in the pews
That's what I do
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues
It's a circus out here, mama, your baby's got the sideshow blues
It's a circus people, step right up