Hostages (2022 Remaster)

Ugly duckling
In the end you've got a handsome coat
You bought it with the royalties
Off some anthems you once wrote
But now you crave total control
You'll blow the planet up if you don't get the vote
I feel the earth-crust buckling
Under the weight of your ransom note

I said the hostages
You're all hostages on earth
You've been betrayed and you won't be tried
It doesn't matter now who's wrong or who lied
You're all hostages
All hostages from birth
You've got a ticking bomb inside
And you pretend you're just along for the ride

His tunes sold billions
They went uranium long ago
You heard them at school
You heard them at home
They're the only songs you'll ever know
So now he craves total control
So he's been fixing up a super gala show
Sold out generations in advance
He sold you out and you've got to go

You're hostages
All hostages on earth
You've been betrayed and you won't be tried
It doesn't matter now who's wrong or who lied
You're hostages
All hostages from birth
You've got a ticking bomb inside
And you pretend you're just along for the ride

Now the ugly duckling
He got his beak in every ballot box
Republics and kingdoms
Protectorates, states and blocs
But now he craves total control
He's going to fleece the preachers and them flocks
He's going to rip off all the hicks and the sticks
All the Joneses, junkies and jocks

You're hostages
All hostages on earth
You've been betrayed and you won't be tried
It doesn't matter now who's wrong or who lied
You're hostages
All hostages from birth
You've got a ticking bomb inside
And you pretend you're just along for the ride