Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket) - Stan Ridgway

[Ell.a]

A signal swings and the lights turn off

And a missing man begins to cough

And no one knows the lost ones from the found

And lady luck, well, she can’t explain

To a hardened coin or a bill, the game

It seems everything changes hands when it hits the ground

They said it’s dog eat dog, cat eat mouse

And mouse eat cheese and the cheese just smells

The warning systems ring but help won’t come.

And all the calling cards and the walking sticks

And the hidden punches and the coward’s kicks

Say we got a big mouthful now

Chorus:

Pick it up and put it in your pocket

Or somebody else will

Pick it up and put it in your pocket

Or somebody else just will

Repeat as necessary

Now the world’s a road and for miles around

On every inch of unclaimed ground, hide rewards for some but all the rest

Spin a creepy wheel or they trip the stair

While the new school boys just can’t play fair

In a place that leaves it’s money in it’s mess

Chorus repeat

Now an old man with a paper bag

And a list so long on a dirty rag

Checks each item that he will throw or keep

But he’ll never thank the coin that’s bent

Or a greenback bill that a stranger sent

But he’ll pick ’em just the same

And then he’ll thank the street

He turns and says it’s dog eat dog

And cat eat mouse

And mouse eat cheese

And the cheese just smells

Now I don’t wanna seem to say

That the time ahead won’t be okay

But the scale is loaded down

With the weight of sixteen tons

And the ones that have

Tell the ones that don’t

To tell the ones that can’t

About the ones who won’t

And there’s no place left here

’round to run

 

 

Lyrics by Stan Ridgway

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