"Pressure" lyrics - T BONE BURNETT

I was once obsessed with being cool, being no one's fool
Breaking every rule
Winning every duel
I tried to hide behind my pride and so I lied
Even when I told the truth

And it's a lot of pressure
From behind

There are those who loom somewhere in doom
And they presume
To tell you what to do
They would run your life for you

And at times they've made me so afraid that I was plagued
By doubt and grew confused

And it's a lot of pressure
From all sides

But I will hold on to this hope
That life is not some gruesome joke
That love is not some wretched lie
Oh!
How I cry!
Ay Ay Ay

I can't ask you to measure whether you can weather
This storm that beats the shore
By some means of keeping score

'Cause, filled with dread, I've heard it said
"Only the dead
Have seen the end of war."

And it's a lot of pressure
From below