Now, I want to put it two ways
I’m not saying
That it’s a bad thing, something to be condemned, to take your own individual life seriously, in dead earnest, and to have all the problems that go with that
Do understand that being that way, that being a real mixed-up human being is a manifestation of nature
That is something just like the patterns on the waves out here

[Pre-Chorus]
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves

Or like a seashell?
You know, we pick up shells
I always keep one around, as sort of an example for many things
And say, “My goodness, isn’t that gorgeous!” There’s not an aesthetic fault in it anywhere. It’s absolutely perfect
Now, I wonder
I wonder if these fish look at each other’s shells and say, “Don’t you think she’s kind of fat? Oh my, those markings aren’t really very well spaced.”
Because that’s what we do

[Chorus]
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
That’s what we do
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
That’s what we do
See, we don’t realize that all of us, in our various goings-on, and behavior, and so on are more marvelous, much more complicated, much more interesting
All these gorgeous faces that I’m looking at
You know, every one of them
Some of them are supposedly pretty, some of them are supposedly not so pretty, but they’re all absolutely gorgeous
And everybody’s eyes is a piece of jewelry beyond compare
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!

[Chorus]
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
That’s what we do
Patterns on the waves
Patterns on the waves
That’s what we do