the great wall of china

Singer:joel, billy

advice is cheap you can take it from me

it's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free

nobody knows about the trouble i've seen

nobody's perfect

mister

nobody's clean

it cost too much and takes too long to find out too late

some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken

your role was protective

your soul was too defective

some people just don't have a heart to be broken

we could have gone all the way to the great wall of china

if you'd only had a little more faith in me

in lieu of diamonds

gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright

all the king's men and all the king's horses

can't put you together the way you used to be

we could have been standing on the great wall of china

you take a piece of whatever you touch

too many pieces means you're touching too much

you never win if you can't play it straight

you only beat me if you get me to hate

it must be so lonely to think that you have only

somebody else's life to live if they let you

i ain't too selective

but it don't take no detective

to find out how fast your friends will forget you

we could have gone all the way to the great wall of china

now all you're going to be is history

help yourself

it's all you can eat at the empire diner tonight

you coulda had class

you coulda have been a contender

charlie

you shoulda looked out for me

you could have been standing

standing on the great wall of china

this was not your calling

just look how far you've fallen

i heard your story

man

you've got to be joking

keep things in perspective

this is my true objective

why tear this heart out if it's only been broken?

we could have gone all the way to the great wall of china

if you'd only had a little more faith in me

in lieu of diamonds

gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright

all the king's men and all the king's horses

can't put you together the way you used to be

we could have been standing

standing on the great wall of china

Lyric Context: the great wall of china - joel, billy