You say Matisse and Picasso scanned the Montparnasse sky
They envied Samson in Gaza his blind all-seeing eye
Not to mention his outrageous hair
You say no decent painter will set a thing down straight
Only a breaker of boundaries may be truly great
Think Rimbaud, think Baudelaire
You say that I've misread the venting of your spleen
All the terrible things you've said
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
The horrible things you've done
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Haw haw haw haw haw!!
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Next up James Joyce and Sam Beckett
They scanned the Sandymount sky
All they saw was small potatoes they'd bigger fish to fry
Ain't it always some revolt?
You say a decent writer always tells it slant
I should take my need for order down to the assembly plant
Think Henry Ford and Samuel Colt
You say I've jumped the gun... By raising the umpteen
Terrible things you've said
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
All the horrible things you've done
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Haw haw haw haw haw!!
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
A renewal slip from Time magazine
On which you scrawled "try not to cling"
Was your last communique
You say you don't mean to be mean
And that none of this means anything
But you don't mean a single thing you say
You say Beefheart and Frank Zappa scanned the Mojave sky
It seemed the mighty Mississippi had left them high and dry
While their all-night parties disturbed the peace
You say no decent singer loves the first path he takes
But waits for a real zinger the mother of all snakes
Think Sinatra, think Marvin Gaye
You say you'll no longer shun the fact you must come clean
(About) the terrible things you've said
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
All the horrible things you've done
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
All the miserable thoughts you thought
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
And the pitiful games you play
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Haw haw haw haw haw!!
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
(You say you don't mean, you say you don't mean)