[Verse 1]
Mama don't understand
She wants to hold my hand
Night and day
And she don't like my clothes, man
They're wearing thin
On her nerves
And she don't like my hair
My glorious crown
Brings her down
And she won't take me serious
Think I'll join the circus
Be a clown

[Chorus 1]
And they'll all laugh
They'll all laugh
They'll all laugh
But it's not funny, no

[Verse 2]
And I'm restless
Wanna bust out of my skin
Got a rocket
In my pocket
Got no fuel
No charted course
Got no direction
No, they did not give me those in school
And yes, I've been a fool for cool
But no kind of hair, no shoes, no jacket's
Gonna help me to hack it, hack it
Hack it to pieces, man, I've had it
And you can have it
[Chorus 2]
And then I'll laugh
And I'll laugh
Then I'll laugh
It's not funny, no
It's not funny, no
It's not

[Verse 3]
Well, I wonder what'll get me off
So I pick and choose and take
In a couple years, you're right, I'm left with
A great big heartache so deep and wide
That no matter
What I stuff inside, it's empty
Just the way it came
It's a crying shame
But all the same

[Chorus 3]
I laugh
Oh, I laugh
Yes, I laugh
But it's not funny at all

[Verse 4]
Should I recall
All the people
I have hurt along the way?
Then I try to justify
Every wrong I did not right
But two wrongs don't make it right
So it keeps me up at night
And I lie awake and while away the meanwhile
And meanwhile, meanwhile I dwell
On the baby that I killed
Or the drink I should have not refilled
And every heart I've broke in two and left to die
Bleeding on the roadside
Or I could sit
And let my eyes get filled with mist
For every girl that I should not have kissed
And all the broken family ties
The loved ones I have missed
Yes, I have mist in my eyes
And so I cry, but why should I, should I
[Chorus 4]
When I could laugh?
I could laugh
I could laugh
But it's not funny, no
It's not funny, no
It's not funny

[Verse 5]
Ah, and everything I've got, I'm gonna lose, both good and bad will
Pass, and what next? What lies beyond the broken dreams
And shattered mirrors
That I keep looking in to check my luck or skill?
But only pride keeps staring back, and still

[Chorus 5]
I laugh
Still I laugh

[Verse 6]
Ah, and none of this
Of course, will stand
When I stand
Before the man
On that great day
Of the great divide
When all the kings and queens will have their closets emptied
And bones will all fall out
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones will not fail
Dead men will tell tales
[Chorus 6]
And you can laugh
And I can laugh
And we can laugh
It's not funny, no
And you can laugh
And I can laugh
And we can laugh
It's not funny, no
I can laugh
We can laugh
I can laugh
It's not funny
It's not funny
It's not funny
It's not funny
It's not funny, no
It's not funny
It's not funny