Two minutes
We can walk on
I said just one hundred and twenty seconds
We must feed the baying mob
I hope that they don't get too scared
By this funereal garb.

Stay casual,
Don't they know that I can't help this
Don't they see
They don't consider
That this is from the heart:
Some laughter
From the irritating girls in front
They belong in nursery school

I scream and yelp and groan and speak
And twitch and dance and leap and strut
And somehow I can't stop
Because I'm sweating and I'm out of breath
But each line calls me to the microphone
And I will thrash at my guitar
Until the strings are broken
Remove from me
All responsibility
Each song bears the hallmark
Of a night of tears and wine
A screwdriver burn or two
Never really meant a thing to you

And these thirty minutes
Of liberation
(Paris 1944 felt like I feel now)
Seem just like half a minute and they like us
Oh God, they like us
These people who are mainly friends
And relatives
But not each one
And unfamiliar faces
Smile, applaud
And people wonder if we are alright
Because we're pale and can't stop moving
After dark.