Falling Down Laughing

He was feeling invulnerable That was foolish but wonderful But of course the first one was always free He's got one wrist in heaven, one ankle in hell Somebody pushed or he just fell He's riding the subway watching the lights play Red yellow green he's always somewhere in between The station he wants, the station he needs And the station where the chickenhawks come to feed Refrain: Since the worm turned he's learned This apple's a blood-filled tear And he falls down laughing, he falls down laughing He falls down and he disappears First he tried to be pure now he just wants a cure He's wasted, his skin's sore, he's flat-out poor When you live in doubt that's when your luck runs out He's on the roof alone, outside the zone Now he's on the street again when he calls him then Billy just cannot resist Now he's an orphan sleeping with the coffins Just like Oliver Twist Well since the worm turned . . Billy's tired of the lies, he's turning every fire Looking for his own past He's limping in the water searching for the quarter Inch of clarity His future is raining blood like stars He's fallen so far behind He might as well be blind Watching late-night film noir inside of stolen cars His tongue stuck frozen to the monkey bars His ladder lost its rungs, Billy speaks in tongues Every time he's in the clear his past looks back and sneers But since the worm turned . .