Billy Bragg - Mid-Century Modern Lyrics

Have mercy on us Father, who live through this age of storms
We barely have the time to bind the wounds caused by our shattered norms
The credulous are on crusade against reality
And freedom's just another word for acting with impunity

It's hard to get your bearings in a world that doesn't care
Positions I took long ago feel comfy as an old armchair
But the kids that pull the statues down they challenge me to see
The gap between the man I am and the man I want to be

That old familiar argument blew up again last night
The one where one of us is wrong but both of us feel in the right
My indignation drove me to say things that I regret
And I hurt the one I love the most with my self-righteous temperament

Now I must face the consequence of the thoughtlessness I've shown
It wasn't my intention to spend this evening all alone
But wounded pride is all I have to keep me company
In the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be

I'm used to people listening to what I have to say
And I find it hard to think that it might help if I just stepped away
And adjusted my perceptions to reflect reality
And the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be
The gap between the man I am and the man I want to be