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