“And I'm not saying it's a bad song, you know, or anything like that. All I'm saying is that if you get, I don't know, a broom, say, and dip it in some brake fluid, put the other end up my arse, stick me on a trampoline in a moving lift, and I would write a better song on the walls. That's all I'm saying.”

“I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

“I'm scared," he says."I know," says the nurse."I want you all to go to Hell.""That's natural.”

“I'm sick of this. Call me what you like, say I'm without honor, I don't care. I'm not getting on any more horses to whack you people with a stick.”

“The PretenderKeep you in the dark you know they all pretendKeep you in the dark and so it all beganSend in your skeletonsSing as their bones come marching in againThe need you buried deepThe secrets that you keep are at the ready, are you ready?I'm finished making senseDone pleading ignorance that whole defenseSpinning infinity, but the wheel is spinning meIt's never ending, never endingSame old storyWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say I will never surrenderWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say that I'll never surrenderIn time or so I'm toldI'm just another soul for sale, oh wellThe page is out of printWe are not permanent, we're temporary, temporarySame old storyWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say that I'll never surrenderWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say I will never surrenderI'm the voice inside your head, you refuse to hearI'm the face that you have to face, mirrored in your stareI'm what's left, I'm what's right, I'm the enemyI'm the hand that'll take you down, bring you to your kneesSo, who are you?Yeah, who are you?Yeah, who are you?Yeah, who are you?Keep you in the dark you know they all pretendWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say I will never surrenderWhat if I say I'm not like the othersWhat if I say I'm not just another one of your playsYou're the pretenderWhat if I say that I'll never surrenderWhat if I say I'm not like the others?(Keep you in the dark)What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays(You know they all)You're the pretender(Pretend)What if I say I will never surrenderWhat if I say I'm not like the others?(Keep you in the dark)What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays(You know they all)You're the pretender(Pretend)What if I say I will never surrenderSo who are youYeah who are youYeah who are you!”

“Eddie, It's like you died that night," he whispers.So that's it. I died.I've been dead.I blink back the tears and pick at the mattress, but I don't say anything. I don't know what I could say to him. I don't know how to convince him I'm still here when I'm not sure of it myself anymore.”