Gonna wipe this crowbar clean
And pry off my face
I'll roll up my sleeves and dig around
Until I find the stains
And shampoo my soiled brains
Old yellow gauze, a rusty scalpel, and
Some cheap whiskey
The tools for this home remedy
Students stuffed in classroom pockets
One boy sneaks out to the broom closet
Words are leaking out his sockets
Words he was supposed to memorize
Better get the compass, this one needs some
Redirection
Soon they plugged me with ambition
Pulp from textbooks soaked in fiction
I feasted on competition
Congratulations, you are this year's champion
Cue the announcer, please show him what he's
Won
Letters validate the tests
Numbers to see who's the best
Now I understand that life's just a contest
Black mortarboard, a wooden ruler,
And papers marked with A's
The tools that taught me to think straight
Now I don't call out the answers
I'm the host, I ask the questions
Raise your hand, who knows the answer?
Be the first to press your buzzer
Watch my eyes when you call out the answer
See the twinkle as I smile
Watch the scoreboard when you get the answer
Lights will flash and cymbals crash
Confetti rains down from the sky
So tell him what he's won
A lifetime on the run
Pursuing number one
Red grading pens
Gray chain-link fence
Mental detention
The tools that left these stains
