It Once Was My Life

There were people on the sidewalks (sidewalks)
 Strolling down the avenues (aveneus)
 They were sitting outside in cafes (cafes)
 We were looking for the muse (for the muse)
 Well, I was locked in by the system
 Where no freedom is the rule
 Now, I spend all my time (all my time)
 Just tryin' to make it understood (understood)
 "It once was my life"
 That's what everybody said
 All the things I used to do and the people that we're friends
 I've got to make it mean something at the end of the day
 It once was my life, they can't take that away
 Trials and tribulations
 And stupidity still rules
 Sometimes, it looks like I'm on a ship of fools
 It once was my life
 When my message was just the street
 Then it became something else
 And now it's incomplete
 I'm just trying to get back to when,
 can somebody please shed some light?
 It used to be my life, it used to be uptight
 Trials and tribulations
 And stupidity still rules
 Some days it just feels like
 I'm on a ship of fools
 I'm back here on the boards
 I can hear the engines roar
 Everybody's got to pay, some people got to pay more
 Well, you can tell the people anything
 Spoon feed them anything you like
 It used to be so simple, it used to be my life
 Now everything is so complicated
 Just to speak or use the phone
 Some people try to use me
 Just 'cause they don't have their own
 Don't know who's round the corner, trying to sell me some more tripe
 It used to be my life, it used to be my life
 It used to be my life, it used to be my life
 It used to be my life, it used to be my life
 It used to be my life, it used to be my life