World Outside These Walls by The View UpStairs Original Off-Broadway Cast Lyrics
[HENRI]
You talk like you've never seen
The world outside these walls
In here, it's –
[HENRI & CAST]
Some kind of paradise
[HENRI]
Out there, you –
[HENRI & CAST]
Roll the dice
[HENRI]
There's no trampoline:
You gotta bounce back up on your own
Don't act surprised!
In this life we fight this fight alone
(spoken)
I didn't spend years of my life turning this place into a home to see it get taken from me because of your stupidity
[WES, spoken]
I was trying to help!
[HENRI, spoken]
Where do you think you are? The revolution ain't coming here. I've been gawked at, fired, spit on. You know how I fight back? By staying alive. That's all the revenge I need
(sung)
I've grown accustomed to the vicious stares
I become stone when I walk downstairs
I don't scare easily at all
[HENRI & CAST]
You don't get a sticker for being nice
But nothing hurts you when you're made of ice
For that strength you pay a price
That's just reality in 1973
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
The best revenge is just to stay alive
That's just reality in 1973
That's just reality in 1973
[WES, spoken]
Okay, so when the cop comes back tomorrow, or next week – you just gonna keep buying him off?
[BUDDY, spoken]
Yes!
[WES, spoken]
Then nothing will ever change
[FREDDY, spoken]
He's right. Next time that pig comes in here, I'm gonna throw my stiletto
[DALE, spoken]
Gouge his eye out!
[WES, spoken]
Get him on film and leak his name to the press
[HENRI, spoken]
Have you lost your minds? If they shut down the bar, where would you go? If they put our names in the paper, how would we find new jobs?
[FREDDY, spoken]
What have we got to lose?
[INEZ, spoken]
Everything!
[sung]
The law is broken and the cops are a joke
[FREDDY]
They'd soon as sit there and watch you choke
[WILLIE]
We all got stories we could tell
[HENRI & CAST]
I'd love to flay those men alive
But then I hear a quiet voice inside:
"Keep your head down and survive."
That's just reality in 1973
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
The best revenge is just to stay alive
[WILLIE]
I've been kicked to my knees and
I've been fired for no reason
[BUDDY]
Had the world spit in my face
My whole life long I've felt outta place
[FREDDY]
We shouldn't have to hide who we are
Or watch how we dress
[WES & INEZ]
Where is freedom?
Where is progress?
[PATRICK]
They say we're a threat to the world downstairs
But if they kill us
[CAST]
No one cares!
[HENRI]
I've been arrested, I've been molested
Lost every part of me
You won't survive
If you don't know your enemy!
[CAST]
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
[HENRI, BUDDY, WILLIE & INEZ]
The best revenge is...
[WES, FREDDY, DALE, RICHARD & PATRICK]
There's so much more to life than...
[CAST]
...Just to stay alive / ...Staying alive
Until the bitter end (Until the bitter end)
No crisis hotline (Hello hotline?)
You are your own best friend
[HENRI]
Your head's on the chopping block like Anne Boleyn
Thoughen up now, grow a thicker skin
[HENRI, BUDDY, WILLIE & INEZ]
Down here in New Orleans, if the cops come, hide your ID
They'll put your name in the paper
"Crimes against nature" for all to see
You'll lose your job, your life, your last stitch of privacy
[HENRI]
That's just reality in 1973
You talk like you've never seen
The world outside these walls
In here, it's –
[HENRI & CAST]
Some kind of paradise
[HENRI]
Out there, you –
[HENRI & CAST]
Roll the dice
[HENRI]
There's no trampoline:
You gotta bounce back up on your own
Don't act surprised!
In this life we fight this fight alone
(spoken)
I didn't spend years of my life turning this place into a home to see it get taken from me because of your stupidity
[WES, spoken]
I was trying to help!
[HENRI, spoken]
Where do you think you are? The revolution ain't coming here. I've been gawked at, fired, spit on. You know how I fight back? By staying alive. That's all the revenge I need
(sung)
I've grown accustomed to the vicious stares
I become stone when I walk downstairs
I don't scare easily at all
[HENRI & CAST]
You don't get a sticker for being nice
But nothing hurts you when you're made of ice
For that strength you pay a price
That's just reality in 1973
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
The best revenge is just to stay alive
That's just reality in 1973
That's just reality in 1973
[WES, spoken]
Okay, so when the cop comes back tomorrow, or next week – you just gonna keep buying him off?
[BUDDY, spoken]
Yes!
[WES, spoken]
Then nothing will ever change
[FREDDY, spoken]
He's right. Next time that pig comes in here, I'm gonna throw my stiletto
[DALE, spoken]
Gouge his eye out!
[WES, spoken]
Get him on film and leak his name to the press
[HENRI, spoken]
Have you lost your minds? If they shut down the bar, where would you go? If they put our names in the paper, how would we find new jobs?
[FREDDY, spoken]
What have we got to lose?
[INEZ, spoken]
Everything!
[sung]
The law is broken and the cops are a joke
[FREDDY]
They'd soon as sit there and watch you choke
[WILLIE]
We all got stories we could tell
[HENRI & CAST]
I'd love to flay those men alive
But then I hear a quiet voice inside:
"Keep your head down and survive."
That's just reality in 1973
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
The best revenge is just to stay alive
[WILLIE]
I've been kicked to my knees and
I've been fired for no reason
[BUDDY]
Had the world spit in my face
My whole life long I've felt outta place
[FREDDY]
We shouldn't have to hide who we are
Or watch how we dress
[WES & INEZ]
Where is freedom?
Where is progress?
[PATRICK]
They say we're a threat to the world downstairs
But if they kill us
[CAST]
No one cares!
[HENRI]
I've been arrested, I've been molested
Lost every part of me
You won't survive
If you don't know your enemy!
[CAST]
You'd better stop being so wide-eyed
This is a battle firing from all sides
And we've all been wounded, some have died
[HENRI, BUDDY, WILLIE & INEZ]
The best revenge is...
[WES, FREDDY, DALE, RICHARD & PATRICK]
There's so much more to life than...
[CAST]
...Just to stay alive / ...Staying alive
Until the bitter end (Until the bitter end)
No crisis hotline (Hello hotline?)
You are your own best friend
[HENRI]
Your head's on the chopping block like Anne Boleyn
Thoughen up now, grow a thicker skin
[HENRI, BUDDY, WILLIE & INEZ]
Down here in New Orleans, if the cops come, hide your ID
They'll put your name in the paper
"Crimes against nature" for all to see
You'll lose your job, your life, your last stitch of privacy
[HENRI]
That's just reality in 1973