Intro
B* 320003 / 320013 (G / Gadd11)
[Intro]
B* B B* B G* G G/A#
[Verse 1]
B F# E
I saw the best of my generation playing pinball
B F# E F#
Maked-up and caked-up and looking like some kind of china doll
B F# G#m E F#
With all of Adolf Hitler's moves down cold as they stood up in front of a rock and roll band
B F# G#m E F#
And always moving upward and ever upward to this gentle, golden promised land
B F#
With the smartest of them all moonlighting as a word processor
G#m E B
And the strongest of them all checking IDs outside saloons
F# G#m
And the prettiest of all taking off her clothes in front of men
E B E
Whose eyes look like they were in some little hick town near Omaha
B E F#
Watching the police chief run his car off the side of a bridge
B F# G#m E
And I saw a men with dreams like the ones I'd had beg quarters outside the 7-11
B E
Till it got so they didn't affect me anymore than the mailboxes I'd pass
B E F#
'Cept that sometimes I'd put something in the mailbox
D#m E
I'd had the wind at my back, now I felt it cold in my face
B F# G#m
And for an awful long time now you were the only one who ever called me late at night
E B
And I never really noticed till after you stopped calling
E E/D# F#
And the emptiness and silence got so heavy
[Chorus]
B
Broken up in the wasteland
D#m
Broken up in the promised land
E
Broken up in Disneyland
F#
Broken up in the plastic land
G#m
Broken up in the wasteland
E
Broken up in the wasteland
B* B B* G G/A#
Broken up in the wasteland
[Verse 2]
B F# G#m E
And I saw dead Marilyn Monroe strung up on every street corner in Hollywood
B E
Like some two bit whore offering a discount rate
F#
And I wondered how Joe Dimaggio felt
B F# G#m E
And I saw dead James Dean's ghost wandering the sidewalk looking troubled
F#
And I wondered how his mama felt
B F#
I saw signs that said "Headshots done for cheap"
G#m E
Signs that said "Extras wanted, top dollars paid"
B E
And signs for haircuts and signs for manicures
B E
And signs for tanning salons and signs for wardrobe specialists
B E
Signs for cosmetic surgery and signs for assertiveness training
F#
And I stopped to read them all
B F#
And every single block looked like every single block
G#m E
Looked like every single block looked like every single block
B E
But you kept driving 'cause everyone else kept driving
B E F#
And 'cause gridlock is evil and not knowing your way is evil
D#m
And those that had money looked good but weren't too happy
E
And those who didn't have money didn't look so good and weren't too happy either
B F# G#m E
And in a city of three million two hundred and sixty nine thousand nine hundred eighty four
F#
Every one was lonely
[Chorus]
B
Broken up in the wasteland
D#m
Broken up in the promised land
E
Broken up in Disneyland
F#
Broken up in the plastic land
G#m
Broken up in the wasteland
E
Broken up in the wasteland
B* B B* G G/A#
Broken up in the wasteland
[Verse 3]
B F# G#m E
And I watched as everyone I knew spent their lives
B F# B
Trying to be watched on stage or watched on film or listened to on a record
E F#
And they thought, "Well, maybe that way I could get a little love out of this life"
B F# G#m E
And I watched as the best of my generation abandoned their dreams
F#
And settled for making a little money
B F# G#m E
I watched TV and read the papers, listened to the radio and made all the fancy scenes
B E
And said all the right words and wore all the right clothes
B F#
And knew the names of the hip people but I still felt out of touch
G#m F# E
So I stopped watching TV and reading the papers and listening to the radio
B E
And making the fancy scenes and saying the right words
B E
And wearing the right clothes and knowing the names of the hip people
F#
And I felt more out of touch than ever, oh, but I didn't care anymore
D#m
And I felt you slipping away
E
And I felt myself slipping from you
B F# G#m
And I wanted more than anything else for it to rain for one whole day like it used to
E B E
But all there ever was was sun, relentless sun, hot, beating sun
B E
And everyone wore their sunglasses and walked around like flies
D#m F#
Under magnifying glass with their eyes removed
[Chorus]
B
Broken up in the wasteland
D#m
Broken up in the promised land
E
Broken up in Disneyland
F#
Broken up in the plastic land
G#m
Broken up in the wasteland
E
Broken up in the wasteland
G#m
Broken up in the wasteland
E
Broken up in the wasteland
B* G
Broken up in the wasteland
[Outro]
B* G x3