Live Alive

I’m taking care of my survival needs
          Won’t Mr. Maslow be so proud of me
I’ve taken care of my survival needs
           But none of that makes any of me, me
Me, I am a dreamer, a believer…

I need my captain, oh captain
That Star Spangled Man with a plan
           I need what he stands for, what he fights for
           What he lives for, what he dies for
                       I need him—God, I need him
                       To plant my feet beside the river of truth
                       To tell the whole world, No, you move
I need my princess, as lovely as her name
That song, that fight, that spirit
          I need her strength, I need her kindness
         Her raging gentleness that lives within her                      
                       I need her—God, I need her
                       To believe that I can be better
                       That I can have courage and be kind
I need my chosen one, my Boy-Who-Lived
That little soldier boy who fought and fought and loved and fought
          I need that rawness, that emotion
          That fierce, that furious humanity in him
                      I need him—God, I need him
                      To know that when there is no wood
                      There is always Lacarnum Inflamarae…

That one thing—I can survive without it
          But can I thrive without it?
          Can I really be alive without it?
Inspiration: that sensation,
           Oh, that fire in my soul sensation
           That madness in my chest sensation
           That adrenaline, the rush sensation
I am an addict, I am hooked,
           I crave it, that believing high
           I need it, that inspiration trip
           That Technicolor dream in me…

So when my body burns and when my body aches
           When my soul is dulled and tired
           My mind a blur, my thoughts a buzz
When I think well maybe… just maybe
           It might be easier just
           To seek out gold and sit on it
The army trickles in
           One by one,
           Two by two,
My captain, oh captain,
My princess, as lovely as her name
My chosen one, my Boy-Who-Lived
And I can feel alive again
           I can soar on high again
           I can rage, rage against the dying of the light

Well, sometimes I can’t
           But I can soldier on
                    I can plant my feet
                    I can believe
                    I can breathe
          And that’s enough…

Inspiration, that’s all I need
           That promise that I am a real, live, living me
           That experience of experiencing all that I can be
Inspiration, that’s what makes me, me.