The marionette has your number
He's pulling your arms and legs
'Til you can't stand on your own
Dragging your conscience on the stage

And your heart gets rearranged
And you cannot tell you mentor
From you Maker
Look at the crowd bleeding with laughter

Or the way you entertain at beckon call
They don't see behind the lights
Or the painted background
They just like to see you fall

[Chorus]
But you don't really mind
And you're just wasting time
You don't feel anything
You're a boy on a string


I feel a sadness like Gapetto
Watching the life that he created run away
Seeing the puppeteer's intrusion
And holding the remains

Of puppets that had rotted away
One day the curtain will not open
And all of the crowds will go away
Crowds will go away (sung in background)

Someday those strings will choke you
But until that day

[Chorus]

Just a boy
Just a boy
Just a boy
Just a boy

[Chorus: x2]

Just a boy on a string