Verse 1: I work the hardest when the sun is setting I play the numbers but I keep forgetting My broken heart, my beating chest My blackened scars, my bated breath My callus lungs, my empathy My tired eyes, my hopes and dreams [Am, Dm, G, C, F, E, C7, E7]
Chorus: I don't want to work myself to death I don't want to break your concentration Can I ever learn to love myself? Will I ever cure my loneliness? [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
I don't wanna heed my own advice I don't wanna feed my desperation Even when the dirges start to play Maybe I'll enjoy the silence [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
Verse 2: A marble counter and a plastic ghetto A candy corset and a pink stiletto My tangled mane, my tattered seams My tiny thoughts, my reveries My weathered veins, my hollow frame My horoscope, my twisted fate! [Am, Dm, G, C, F, E, C7, E7]
Chorus: I don't want to work myself to death I don't want to break your concentration Can I ever learn to love myself? Will I ever cure my loneliness? [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
I don't wanna heed my own advice I don't wanna feed my desperation Even when the dirges start to play Maybe I'll enjoy the silence [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
Breakdown: Hard Knocks felt worn as the 9-to-5 tea parties rolled on dreamlike, everything tinted by the soft salmon horizon guided by giant little invisible hands of fate she prayed some far dreamer would take her away [Am, Dm, C7, F, Am, Dm, C7, F] [E, Am, Gm, F, E, Am, Gm, F]
Verse 3: And when the doctor writes his last prescription He'll shake his head to stave my sad addiction My swollen neck, my second skin My bloodied socks, my crooked chin My wooden teeth, my splintered spine My gauze, my pain, my god, my name [Am, Dm, G, C, F, E, C7, E7]
Chorus: I don't want to work myself to death I don't want to break your concentration Can I ever learn to love myself? Will I ever cure my loneliness? [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
I don't wanna live my life alone I don't wanna plead with my own shadow Baby when the hard knock life is won Do you think I'll stop forgetting? [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
[Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E] [Am, G, C, E, F, F#dim, G, E]
(one of the lyrics is "a candy corset and a pink stiletto" - no, Hard Knocks is not a prostitute...)