[Verse 1]
A morbid fascination with all things inextreme
Municipal thought has [?], it seems
It's early in the morning, I've given up on sleep
I'm in need of attention, but all I hear is my heartbeat

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame, what a terrible shame
A terminal standard has left us the same
"I need someone who's here", she said, "and you're never here"
Staying one step ahead

[Verse 2]
The inner city flora, that grows around my feet
I never really noticed if conversion complete
I'm in perpetual fear of being swallowed whole
They're pushed up in the suburbs in the stomach of a whale
A beached whale

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame, what a terrible shame
A terminal standard has left us the same
"I need someone who's here", she said, "and you're never here"
Staying one step ahead
Staying one step ahead
[Verse 3]
Domestic desperations begin to stare at me
I bought it for displaying some respectability
Pictures of the present are the pictures of the past
They put me in a room and watch me behind the plate glass

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame, what a terrible shame
A terminal standard has left us the same
"I need someone who's here", she said, "and you're never here"
Staying one step ahead
What a shame, what a shame, what a terrible shame
A terminal standard has left us the same
"I need someone who's here", she said, "and you're never here"
Staying one step ahead

[Outro]
Ahead, ahead, ahead
Okay