Behind the Song
The first four lines of this song started life 17 years ago. I’d forgotten the rest of the song, but these opening words had stuck with me.
They made me think of a narrator who is faithful and earnest; forthright and hopeful. But this ol’ world wasn’t made for him. He encounters doubters, deceivers.
So I bent that idea and push the narrator against one of those doubters — or is he just a deceiver, as the narrator names him? I wanted to introduce a little indecision in the back of the narrator’s mind. He doesn’t want to listen, he doesn’t want to be tempted away from his vision of the good … but maybe he’s burying his head in the sand a few inches.
Lyrics
I was born a believer with my head held high. You were born a deceiver shootin' birds from the sky. So don't tempt me, don't you tell me to see the world as you know it, that's not how it should be. Don't tempt me, 'cause I don't want to know how your sausage is made, who's really running the show. Well I got enough worries without your snide remarks. Why don't you try raising a family in these waters full of sharks. So don't tempt me, don't you tell me to see the world as you know it, that's not how it should be. Don't tempt me, 'cause I don't want to know how your sausage is made, who's really running the show. Yeah, you got all the answers. Yeah, you were head of the class. But while you were sipping Manhattans, I've been busting my ass. So don't tempt me, don't you tell me to see the world as you know it, that's not how it should be. Don't tempt me, 'cause I don't want to know how your sausage is made, who's really running the show.
