See the friends I made and I were different from the rest
Though in the school playground is where the xxxx starts to show
The other kids would play He-Man, and GI Joe
But why they aspired to be GI Joe I just didnt know
It was kinda clear right then there were strangers within us
We’re more like you be Charles Mingus, I’ll be sticky fingers
I was a schoolboy standing in a schoolboy stance
Gimmie some space to grow so I can try to advance

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut (x??)

Now just becuase I did not become an astronaut
That does not mean I have failed, oh no no not at all
It simply means the ambitions of the kids at school
Can be restricted and a little one-dimensional
We are encouraged to pick a job in which we see success
Instead of thinking about what we really need for happiness
And so our goal becomes our job title and anything less
Is deemed a failure and for me this is quite hard to digest

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
Anything other than that is an afterthought

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
With a lot of good friends and a family to support
When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
With no friends, other than the TV I bought

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
Married to the girl throughout my teens I have sought
When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
Selling drugs on the side and not getting caught

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
Living out my life in a familiar haunt
When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut
Drained of all my life, looking tired and gaunt

When I grow up, I just want to roll
From one experience to the next without having a goal
When I grow up, I want to evolve
Into a person not defined just by their job or their role
When I grow up, I just want to roll
From one experience to the next without having a goal
When I grow up, I want to evolve
Into a person not defined just by their job or their role