CARDBOARD CALIFORNIA
(Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield)
Nothin' is real in cardboard California,
Just wakin' up brings you down.
One lousy deal is cardboard California,
You just can't survive in a make-believe town.
Lost in a city of little tin gods,
Cold plastic people with phoney facades.
How can you win when you look at the odds,
You're runnin' down a one-way street,
Nobody cares if you survive.
Sometimes you beg or you don't eat,
You've got to fight to stay alive.
Hey, you're never gonna get away.
Where's the world you used to know,
Where did all the good times go?
Look around, your hopes and dreams are gone,
But like a fool you still keep hangin' on.
Come and be a movie star,
Come and drive a fancy car,
Come and see what you really are.
Everybody's goin' somewhere,
But you,
You're goin' nowhere.
Look in the mirror, mirrors don't lie,
You're getting older your time's passed you by,
You lost your shot to some younger guy.
You're runnin' down a one-way street,
Nobody cares if you survive.
Sometimes you beg or you don't eat,
You've got to fight to stay alive.
Hey, you're never gonna get away.
Nothin' is real in cardboard California,
Just wakin' up brings you down.
One lousy deal is cardboard California,
You just can't survive in a make-believe town.
