John Cale Follow

Welcome to the gold rush, ladies and gentlemen
Where California begins and maybe ends
California is the last stop on the great hitchhike
West and now it's getting a little full
Too many thumbs, well, when you get
Too many people in one place

You get intolerance and contempt and rigidity
And tension and sarcasm, distrust, anxiety, envy, hate, cynicism
Discontent, self-pity, malice, suspicion, jealousy and snobbishness
And this leads right into poetry, painting, sculpture
Dance, music and literature, photography

These are known as the arts and art will break your heart
So what? So will a good meal
Art is not the spiritual side of business-as-usual

And art is not for everyone never has been and it never will be
Now me, I don't know much about art, but I do like what I know
You know in these days when everybody is mistaking
Celebrity for talent, ambition for genius, self-pity for humility

Style for content and loathing for love
They spend a lot of time getting in touch with them self
And then they find self-justification, self-righteousness
Self-obsession, self-pity, self-loathing, self-concern
Self-centredness, self-reliance, and self-serving gratification