[Verse 1]
I climb up on the stage
Wearing an old man's face
I've said those words a thousand times
I memorized the lines of Paris, The Prince and Friar
I might one day play them too

To get here took its time, I forgot to make a life
Between the scripted ones I knew
When admiration grew I was only loved by few
My true love and passion - everyone knew

[Verse 2]
Hamlet in Lapland, King Lear died in Vienna
Venice and Othello, Madrid I am Henry the 8th
I am, I am

[Verse 3]
We all shall one day become what we play
The marvelous, magical, bewildering array
Of trees and stones as we work our way up
To become these icons of lust and what not

"We live in the sin of self-indulgent... larger than life
Yeah, that's what I am!
I am a goddamn Peter Pan, maaaaaaan!
But the one palace I won't grow up in
Staged a broken leg deep in my grave"
[Pre-Chorus]
When life becomes a play
And I don't know the role I'm cast
It's all wrong
But I cannot escape before the curtain call
One last time
Build myself a wall to cry on
To hide in plain view
I will fall
Deeper into the role written in a drunken haze, it seems
By the Shakespeare in me

[Chorus]
Stage, film and television
Twenty-four seven on the scene, I'm
Larger than life...
Nightclubs, cabarets, spotlights never turn away now
Larger than life...
The meaning of the fame is getting
Lesser by the day for me somehow
Larger than life...
My friends all have families
Who now have their families
I lived half a century aboding deep in vanities
Am I now wise, when I've learned all the traits
Of a fool?
[Verse 4]
The mirror now cries
Ageless mask fades to true life
To taste the immortal grace
I lived the role I played
Alone in a golden cage

[Verse 5]
Life is what we make of it sometimes, sometimes
Sometimes we just want to play

[Bridge]
So don't take life so seriously
Play, love, have fun, leave misery be
Regrets are built in a cold dark cage
Where nothing ever happens
Where nothing ever happens

So don't take life so seriously
Play, love, have fun, leave misery be
Regrets are built in a cold dark cage
Where nothing ever happens
Where nothing ever happens
Where nothing ever happens
Where nothing ever happens
[Verse 6]
I climb down from the stage
Remove the young man's face
And underneath reveal a sage
"Young man, you play my role
Breath life into that soul
Prepare to live a thousand lives"

[Verse 7]
Now when you think it's all over, you find love
A flower starts to bloom, a chapter starts anew
The greatest moment in life

[Verse 8]
Mirror still lies, time's a cruel, silent landslide
It builds you up within, destroys the shell you're in
And everything will fall into place

[Pre-Chorus]
When life becomes a play
And I (you) don't know the role I'm cast (you're cast)
It's all wrong, but I (you) cannot
Escape before the curtain call
One last time, build yourself a wall to cry on
For anybody to see
You will fall deeper into the role you wrote in a drunken
Haze, it seems, with the Shakespeare within

[Chorus]
Stage, film and television
Twenty-four seven on the scene, I'm
Larger than life...
Nightclubs, cabarets, spotlights never turn away now
Larger than life...
The meaning of the fame is getting
Lesser by the day for me somehow
Larger than life...
My friends all have families
Who now have their families
I lived half a century aboding deep in vanities
Am I now wise, when I've learned all the traits
Of a fool?