Lyrics Ray Davies – 20th Century Man

This is the age of machinery
A mechanical nightmare
The wonderful world of technology
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
It’s the age of insanity
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem

Ain’t got no ambition, I’m just disillusioned
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here
My mama said she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Just give me some security
I’m a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century

You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I’ll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough

Girl we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to die here

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
‘Cause the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me

Don’t wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman

My mama says she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Ain’t got no security
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here